Soul Eater
by Amarxlen
Summary: Something in the air between the three of us felt different. The fragile hope that we might reconcile had been broken, and I no longer felt the need to interfere. I had chosen my side, for better or worse. 'Paopu or no...' "I'll always choose you."
1. A Sudden Departure

**A/N: Hello, dear readers! It's been a while, but I finally worked up the nerve to begin posting my first multi-chaptered fanfiction. So far, I have five chapters written, and hope to be able to keep up with updating. Also, I have taken a few liberties with the Kingdom Hearts storyline, as to make this story fit in better. This will be a telling of Riku's side of Kingdom Hearts, including the scenes that are included in the game, but changed to include my OC. I hope I've written her to be convincing and non Mary-Sue, I know I personally am very critical of OCs. Reviews are welcome, flames will be ignored. Now, without further ado, chapter one of Soul Eater.**

Chapter 1

Way earlier than I would have liked, I was woken up by a loud and insistent pounding. As I clawed my way out of sleep, the voice shouting through my door became clearer.

"Natsumi, wake up!" The voice was familiar, and not altogether unwelcome, although it certainly seemed shrill in the early morning air. This order was accentuated with more door pounding. I grumbled into my pillow and pulled my blankets closer.

"Natsumi!" He was positively whining at this point and I vacillated between satisfaction at ignoring him and irritation at his persistence.

"Sora, wait," a quieter and just as familiar voice said. The pair mumbled behind my door for a moment and I strained to hear what they were saying. Their whispered consensus made me uneasy and I sat up in bed just as they threw open the door and rushed in.

"Wake up," Sora shouted again, throwing himself onto my bed and yanking the comforter away from me.

"I am awake," I groaned. My eyes left the brunet to find Riku standing behind him. "Who let you in anyways?" The irritation I felt at being woken up early had begun to fade once I had seen that the numbers on my alarm clock read 10:27.

"Your parents," Riku told me in a matter of fact voice and I closed my eyes. Of course they would. They were parents who didn't believe in sleeping in late, and probably would have soon been up in my room themselves if I had slept much longer. Still a little bleary eyed from sleep, I rubbed my face and yawned.

"Natsumi," Sora said in what we referred to as his indoor voice, "we're going to the island." That perked me up a bit and the boys seemed to be able to tell. The island we were going to was very, very special for the four of us.

"We'll be down at the dock," Riku told me, grabbing Sora by the arm and pulling him out the door. "Hurry," Sora urged, grinning at me. I smiled back, surprised that he thought to pull the door closed behind him. I took a moment to stretch before I got up to get ready. Quickly tugging on my shorts and a tank top from the floor that hadn't yet begun to smell funny, I then ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

With that finished, I rushed down the stairs, jumping the last three and landing softly on my feet. Grabbing a piece of toast off the table, I gave my parents a hurried good bye and let them know that I would eat more with the gang. They used to argue with me when I gave them this explanation, but that was before they knew how much food the boys actually seemed to eat. After that they decided that I was well taken care of. With the piece of toast in my mouth, I tugged my hair into a ponytail as I pushed open the door and blinked in the sudden sunlight.

"Natsumi!" A third familiar voice called out, completing our foursome. My eyes adjusted slowly until I could see her waving at me and I waved back.

"Hey Kairi," I said walking closer, noticing that Sora was bouncing with excitement and impatience.

"Are you ready?" He asked, unable to contain himself. He tugged a little bit at my wrist. For a moment I just stood there, using eating my toast as an excuse to keep quiet. I really just wanted to tease him and he squirmed under my gaze.

My toast finished, I said, "Yes, Sora, I'm ready." He grinned widely and tugged at my wrist again. "Let's go then!" He pulled me with him as he began to run towards the docks and before we got too far, I grabbed Kairi's wrist, who in turn grabbed Riku. In a chain we ran onto the docks where Sora released my hand and jumped down into his boat. Mindful of the waves his leap had caused, the rest of us climbed more carefully into our boats.

Once upon a time I had been too scared to climb into my own boat, having never learned how to swim and terrified that I would fall into the waiting ocean below. I looked up at Riku in his boat, paddling after Sora who had already taken off across the water. The sun glinted off his hair, blinding me momentarily. It had been him that let me ride along in his boat, and him again that taught me how to swim. It was probably inevitable that I developed a crush on him and still harbored one to this day.

"C'mon Natsu," Kairi brought me back down to earth as she always did and I rushed after the three of them. My arms had just started to burn with the exertion of rowing to the play island when the dock was close enough to tie my boat to.

I scrambled up onto the dock and looked around for my three friends. Kairi was easy enough to spot, waiting for me at the end of the dock, but Riku and Sora were no where to be seen.

"Where'd they go?" I asked the red head, a bit irritated that they had taken off so quick. I knew the raft was near completion—Riku had told me that it would be ready in three days—but without knowing what they were off doing, I had no way of knowing what still needed to be done.

"Hm?" Kairi looked up from the Thalassa lucky charm she was almost finished threading. It had taken her close to a week and a half, partly because the shells were delicate and kept breaking, but mostly because they were so difficult to find. The charm itself needed five shells and Kairi had diligently searched the island for them until she found enough. It was because they were so rare that they were supposed to be lucky. "Oh, Sora ran off to get supplies. I think he's in that tree up there." She freed her hand and pointed to one of the few trees on the beach of the play island. Sure enough, Sora was shimmying awkwardly up the trunk and had just reached the leaves when I saw his bright red shorts.

"And Riku went to check on the raft. He said we might even be able to leave sooner than we thought." My eyes widened and I looked off to where the raft was hidden, though I could not see it from where I stood. "So I figured I might as well finish my lucky charm," she said and went back to threading her charm. "Who knows? We might need it." Her words filled me with a sudden foreboding. Up until then there had never been any doubt in my mind that everything was going to go exactly according to plan. Now I wondered whether this plan was actually a good one and if we had thought everything through.

"I'm gonna go see what Riku's up to," I told her and began walking off, trying to shake of the uneasy feeling in my stomach.

"Let me know how it's going!"

"Sure thing," I called back to her as I walked across the island. It didn't take long to reach the place where we had hidden the raft. Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie still sometimes came out to the island and, while we were on friendly enough terms with them, there was an unspoken agreement that the raft was just for the four of us. So we kept it hidden in a corner of the island where they usually didn't come and so far they'd given us no reason to think they had found it.

In the sand it was easy to sneak up behind Riku where he knelt down next to the raft, double checking that everything was secure and the raft wouldn't fall apart on us on the way to far away places. That was another thing we didn't quite think through. Our destination had always been Kairi's home, but we had no idea where that actually was. I thought about this as I watched Riku work.

At fifteen his muscles were already well defined and I struggled to recall exactly when he had become the teenager in front of me. It had happened gradually obviously, and if anything, the change was in me and how I saw him. Suddenly stronger, cockier, and more mischievous than he had ever been. I wondered, not for the first time, how he saw me, if it made any difference to him that I had outgrown my old dresses and wore my blonde hair differently than I used to. Even with Kairi's encouragements, I never had enough confidence to ask him about it.

"It's just about ready, right?" I'd been silent behind him until then, but my voice still didn't startle him. He just finished adjusting a knot on the raft and then stood and turned to face me.

"Just about," he said, his aqua eyes twinkling at me. Try as he might to act cool, the raft was his idea and nobody was more excited about it than him. "We're just waiting on supplies from Sora." I nodded and smiled.

"I saw him up the tree grabbing coconuts. Like a monkey," I said, miming the way Sora had shimmied up the tree and stretched out his body as far as he dared for the dangling coconut. Riku laughed good naturedly and my heart fluttered with the sound of it. Suddenly, Kairi's advice came back to me: _Just tell him, Natsu, he's your best friend! Who better to confide in?_ My heart beat faster as I thought about it. I had an opportunity in front of me, we were alone for once and he was cheerful because the raft was done. I could just—

"Riku?" I said tentatively. He seemed to sense the shift in my mood and took a step closer to me.

"Natsumi," he said softly in acknowledgment. I reached up and nervously ran my fingers along my collarbone, looking down at my tennis shoes.

"There's something…something I want to tell you." I looked up, gathering my courage, ready to tell him what only one other person in the world knew.

"Riku! Natsumi!" I cringed and whirled towards Sora, despairing. I had been so close! "I've got the supplies," he told us, setting down his contribution on the raft. "Now we can get to the important part!" Riku raised an eyebrow at this, and I too wondered what could be more important that the food that we were going to take with us on our journey.

"What do you mean the important part?" I asked, now a bit irritated at his interruption even though I knew he had no way of knowing exactly what he'd interrupted. To him, it probably looked like we were talking about the raft.

"A name! We haven't named the raft yet." Riku and I exchanged a glance as the brunet bounced around, hands clenched into fists, face open and earnest.

"Sora…" I said slowly. "It doesn't really need a name. It's a raft."

"Aw, come on, Natsumi. Riku thinks it needs a name too, right Riku?" We both looked to the silver haired teen, who looked a little upset at being put on the spot. He raised his hands up at us as if in surrender.

"If I was gonna name it…" He spoke just as slowly as I had a moment before. He surveyed the raft for a moment. "I suppose I would name it Highwind," he finally said. "What would you name it?" Sora looked a little taken aback at the question before answering brightly—

"Excalibur!" Then they both turned to me. Now it was my turn to raise my hands in mock surrender. I didn't like either of those names, but since I couldn't come up with anything better I decided to withhold my vote.

"You two can settle this between yourselves," I told them.

"A race it is," Sora exclaimed, smacking his palm with his fist.

"Alright," Riku agreed and, after making sure the supplies and the raft were well hidden, we began to walk towards the other side of the island where Kairi, and their race course, were. The two of them discussed the terms of the race—what the winner would receive and so on—on our way there, and for the most part I tuned them out. But I couldn't help the way I stiffened when I heard Riku's voice say that the winner not only gets to name the raft, but also gets to share a paopu with Kairi.

I said nothing, but felt the heat in my face, which wasn't from the sun. In our unofficial tally, Riku and Sora had each won their share of races, but Riku still held the lead. I turned this over in my mind, wondering if this meant that Riku _wanted_ to share a paopu with Kairi. It had never occurred to me that he might want to share a paopu with somebody…well, other than me.

Years and years ago, when all of us were little, just after Kairi had come to the islands, Riku and I had gotten into the biggest argument we'd ever had and still hadn't had one that rivaled it. He and Sora had been spending a lot of time with Kairi, welcoming her to the island, showing her around. They both promised that they were just being nice, but I still couldn't help feeling like they liked her better and wanted to spend more time with her than me. It hurt me that both of them liked her, but it hurt more with Riku. I hadn't realized it yet, but even then I had feelings for him.

One day, I got so mad that I yelled at them both just as they were going to meet with her. I didn't remember exactly what I said to them, but it had been terrible, meant to hurt them like they were hurting me. It had been terrible enough that Sora started crying and that more than anything was what upset Riku. He yelled back at me until we were both hoarse and I was crying too, and finally I ran off, sure that this was the final straw and they would never want to see me again.

To my surprise, it was Riku who came and found me (though he admitted later it was only because Sora made him, he was still very upset with me after all) alone in the secret place that until then had belonged to just the three of us. I had sniffled at him and told him to go away, but he didn't. He sat down next to me and it was then that I saw what he had in his hands. A yellow, star shaped fruit. I wiped my face with my dress and stared at him until he spoke.

"It's for us to share," he said. My eyes widened. The legend of the paopu fruit was one that every Destiny Islands kid grew up with—that whenever two people shared one, their destinies became intertwined. Even as kids, we knew what a big deal that was.

"Riku," I sniffled again, wondering if he really meant to share it with me.

"To prove to you that just because Kairi's here now, doesn't mean I'm forgetting about you," he said sternly, fixing me with a stare that even at such a young age was disquieting. I nodded at him. "And Sora too," he added. I nodded again.

Satisfied, he handed me the paopu and I took it from him, staring at it in awe for a minute. Under his careful gaze I took my first bite of the only paopu I had ever eaten. I had speculated a lot about what one would taste like and expected it to be sweet. Instead, there was a sharp tang to it that made me pucker my lips at first before I decided I actually did like it. Swallowing the bite, I handed the fruit back to him. I half expected that he wouldn't actually take a bite out of it, that he changed his mind and decided sharing a paopu with me wasn't such a good idea after all.

My worries were for nothing, he took a larger bite than I had, eyes widening slightly at the taste of it. It was because of that I knew this was his first paopu, too. Together we devoured it, our hands and faces becoming sticky as it dripped on us and our clothes. Afterwards, we washed up the best we could in the freshwater on the island and Riku convinced me to go meet Kairi. With surprise, I realized I actually liked the girl, even as I was fully prepared to hate everything about her. She won me over and with chagrin I found that she wormed her way into my heart and my life and became one of my best friends.

Even so, I now felt the old jealousy resurface at the thought of Riku sharing a paopu with her. I found myself wondering what would happen if he shared a paopu with two people. Would the paopu he had shared with the first person suddenly become null and void? Would I be cast aside as his destiny changed to intertwine with Kairi's?

"Natsu?" Her voice suddenly broke through my thoughts. While I had been daydreaming, Sora and Riku had begun their race and Kairi looked at me in worry. "You were spacing out for a while. Are you okay," she asked softly, looking up at me with concern.

"Did they tell you…? They decided, well, Riku did… The winner gets to share a paopu with you?"

"Oh," her voice was soft and I looked down at her pleadingly. "They did and," her voice got suddenly stronger, "if Riku wins, I won't Natsu, I won't do that to you." I sat down next to her with relief. She really was a much better friend than I had first thought of her. Pulling my knees to my chest and turning my eyes to the boys' race I sighed, "Thank you, Kairi." I felt her small hand on my shoulder before she returned to working on her charm. We both knew that only solved one of my problems.

"Do you think Riku will win?" She asked absently, pulling the thread through her last Thalassa shell.

The boys were on their way back and I began to answer Kairi when Sora made a misstep and a section of the rickety wooden platform fell, taking him with it.

"Now I do," I said. She looked up at my comment, lips down in a thoughtful frown as she noticed where Sora had landed. At the triumphant look on Riku's face, it seemed he knew he had won too. Moments later, he had reached the sand where Kairi and I sat and stood there, waiting for Sora. The brunet climbed up onto the plateau moments later and grinned at us sheepishly.

"I lost…" He looked up at Riku and his grin fell. "Well, winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi, congrats." He sat down on the sand next to me and shook his hair out, showering me with cool ocean water. Kairi and I exchanged a look, but looked up quickly when Riku began to chuckle. As we watched, he laughed harder.

"The paopu thing was just a joke, guys. You should have seen your faces." I looked at him, appalled at the joke.

"Haha, very funny," I spat out at him, not amused at all. The three of them looked at me with wide eyes, probably wondering exactly what had gotten into me. My cheeks flushed and I looked away. "Sorry," I mumbled before running off, not realizing until I got there that my legs had been carrying me to the Secret Place.

"I should just tell him." I murmured to myself. But if he had really forgotten that we shared that paopu fruit… Or had the whole thing really just been a stupid joke? "Dumb Riku," I said and slid awkwardly down the rough rock wall and to the floor. I closed my eyes and said again, "I should just tell him."

My breath came in short bursts, in and out through my mouth. I was running from something. The darkness was so complete that I could barely see where I was going. My surroundings were unfamiliar, what I could discern of them anyways. I didn't know what I was running from, or where I was, just that if I got caught all was lost.

The shadows flickered and twitched in the corners, pulsating with a steady breathing as if they were alive. Those shadows filled me with fear and I ran faster. Looking over my shoulder I saw that the shadows were fast closing in on what little light there was. They consumed it, lusted for it. I ran even faster.

Suddenly, a silhouette appeared before me, their silver hair identifying even through the darkness before I could see his face. I was relieved.

"Riku!" I called. He turned around and smiled at me sadly, repentant. I was confused at his expression—what could cause such sadness to run across his features? My foot caught on the uneven ground and he tried to dart forward to catch me. I looked up to see that he'd barely taken a step before the darkness captured his ankles. He was only just able to stay standing after swaying precariously for a moment.

Fearfully, I turned my head to see that the darkness had also wrapped around my own ankles. I kicked at it, my eyes wide, but it clung eagerly. I looked back to Riku as he continued to struggle with his own darkness.

"Riku!" For a split second we both stopped fighting with our darkness. It quickly took advantage of our pause and squirmed higher. I looked worriedly over my shoulder and again began to kick at the darkness.

Even though it started at the same time Riku's darkness had almost taken him over. My eyes widened as the darkness opened to completely swallow him.

"RIKU!" The darkness cleared slowly as I yelled his name hysterically, completely ignoring the darkness that continued to creep up my legs. I'd never forget the look on his face when it took him. Triumphant…then terrified.

The darkness rose to my waist and I continued to struggle with it, pushing the thought of Riku's vanishing to the back of my mind, only allowing it to remind me what would happen should I fail to break free. Suddenly, a figure appeared before me. Fully distressed, I lashed out against the figure in black. Slowly his face came into view and I couldn't stifle a gasp.

"R-Riku?" I whispered, wondering how he had managed to escape the shadows. They had taken him right in front of me, but he only stretched his hand towards me, as if silently confirming that yes, it was him.

But there was something strange about this Riku, something that I shied away from, even as the darkness crawled higher up my body. Riku waved his hand at me and I shook my head at him. He frowned thoughtfully, and abruptly he wasn't Riku anymore, but somebody new, somebody terrifying. His amber eyes blazed against his dark skin and he sneered at me. My eyes widened in fear and he clenched his fist and pulled it towards himself. Too late, I realized that this gesture was pulling the darkness up and over my head. It took the shape of a tunnel and through it I was able to see that Riku was himself again.

"Riku!" I called to him for the last time as the darkness completely engulfed me.

I was falling, falling through darkness and away from him. My travel was completely silent; no wind in my ears and no other sounds either, everything stifled in the crushing blackness. I closed my eyes and willed away the tears, prepared to hit the bottom when—

I was suddenly woken by a loud roaring noise bursting into the Secret Place. There was no time for grogginess as I watched the shadows begin to flicker and twitch, forming into solid beings that shivered and walked towards me. I jumped up and ran towards the entrance of the cave, away from the shadows.

I ran through the tunnel, pinching myself on the arm, unwilling to believe that these creatures could have followed me out of my dream. The roaring of the wind got louder as I reached the exit of the tunnel, the wind whipping my hair up in a frenzy. I gasped in sudden pain and looked down to find one of the shadow creatures latched onto my leg, its nails digging into the skin and drawing blood. Panicked, I kicked at it, trying anything to shake it loose. Anything but touch it.

With one final kick I managed to get my leg free, and with that motion I also caught a glimpse of the sky. My eyes widened at the giant black orb hovering above the island, crackling with energy. Without quite knowing why, I pinpointed this as the center of all the chaos. But I had stood frozen for too long.

The shadows advanced on me, more of them clawing at my already injured leg and inflicting fresh injuries on my other leg. I kicked at them frantically and decided that it seemed as though it wasn't helping at all. My only thought was that I had to leave and get home and leave the island and the raft to the destruction of the creatures and the dark energy. My footsteps echoed on the wooden planks of the dock and I was untying my boat and had almost finished before I noticed the other three boats floating there.

A flash of irritation ran through me. What were those idiots thinking, coming out to the island during a storm like this? There was no way I could leave, not while my friends were still on the island and at the mercy of the shadow creatures. The water was too choppy to leave my boat as it was and I quickly tied it up again. I turned towards the island, relieved that the creatures seemed to have not followed me onto the dock.

I took the moment of reprieve to search the shore, but I couldn't find anything in the night or the swirling debris. Frustrated, I yelled into the night.

"Riku! Sora! Kairi!" The sound of my scream seemed to rouse the shadows. They rose from the deck as though they had been a part of it until that moment and surrounded me. Realizing I had to act fast and gathering my determination, I ran through them off the dock, thinking that perhaps the wooden swords we used as kids in our game of pirates could be of some use if I could get to it.

I began to run towards where we had left them in the hut by the waterfall, dodging the monsters on my way. As I approached the hut, I ran in and grabbed the closest sword I could find, not checking whose it was before I made for the door again. In the darkness, a single splotch of red stood out.

"Sora," I cried and ran out towards him. The red spot stopped and began to run to me.

"Natsumi," he said when he got close enough to me to see who I was. When he reached me I grabbed his forearms, the wooden sword pressed against his skin, and he grabbed mine in response. He glanced down at the sword and then back up at me. I felt as though the wind could rip us apart at any moment.

"Where are Riku and Kairi?" He had to yell to be heard over the roaring wind. Yellow eyes peered at us out of the darkness, and I saw shadows separate and quiver towards us.

"I don't know, I thought you all left!" Sora nodded at this, though the look on his face was as troubled as I felt. Staring into the darkness behind me, his eyes widened suddenly.

"There," he shouted, releasing my left arm to point across the island. I whirled around, careful to keep a grip on him and ever aware of the shadows that surrounded us. I couldn't spot what it was Sora had found, but he began to pull me forward without waiting for my response. As we ran across the island, dodging creatures and debris, I stared hard at the small separate section of island he was leading me to. I swiped at the creatures with the sword when I got the opportunity, but the wood just seemed to pass right through them. Finally, I could see the gleam of silver hair, and it seemed stupid to me now that this wasn't where I immediately went to search for my friends.

"What are they?" I wondered aloud, another creature leaping at me and, thankfully, missing. We crossed the bridge quickly, the familiar sound of our footsteps lost.

"Riku!" Sora yelled as we stepped foot onto the sand. I was now clearly able to see Riku, his hair whipping around his face, which was bright with excitement, even as our home was being ripped to pieces around him.

"Where's Kairi?" I yelled.

"I thought she was with you," Sora added. Even though we seemed safe on this part of the island, I couldn't bring myself to release his hand. Riku paused for a moment, staring at the two of us.

"The door…has opened."

"What?" I chewed my lip, confused by Riku's strange statement.

"The door has opened Sora, Natsumi," he said urgently, like it was something we needed to understand or the consequences would be disastrous. "Now we can go to the outside world!"

I froze. I was sure I hadn't heard him right over the wind.

"What are you talking about?" Sora demanded to know. But it had suddenly clicked in my head. This was how we could leave.

"The outside world, Sora!" My excitement threatened to bubble over, my lips were stretched in a wide smile.

"But we've gotta find Kairi," he protested. The look he fixed us with was incredulous, and I felt ashamed to have forgotten her. My hand slipped out of his and I looked to Riku.

"Kairi's coming with us," he hollered impatiently, offering his hand to me. I had no reason to believe him, other than that he was my friend and I trusted him wholeheartedly. I grabbed his gloved hand decisively. "Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back, but this may be our only chance." My heart sank. Sure, I wanted to leave, with all my heart, but I had never thought of it as something permanent. At the end of the journey there had always been a welcome home, familiar faces.

Sensing my hesitance, he turned to look at me, giving me a reassuring smile and a squeeze of my hand. The comfort was there and gone in a flash, but it was still enough to strengthen me. I couldn't squander what may be our only chance to explore what was out there.

"Sora, come with us," I pleaded. His apprehension looked to be much harder to stifle than my own. He looked around us, at the island that was falling apart before our eyes.

"We can't let fear stop us," Riku told him. "I'm not afraid of the darkness." The words sounded like a challenge, another race for them to run, another chance to see who of the two was better. I stood by Riku's side, wondering if this challenge would be enough to entice Sora.

Suddenly darkness erupted around our feet and the fear that had been kept at bay by Riku's confidence resurfaced. This was too much like my dream and my heart began to race. I looked up at Riku and the serene way he offered Sora his hand calmed me. This wasn't like my dream at all. We were not being separated. The three of us were together and whenever we got to where we were going, we would find Kairi, too, and it would be the four of us. Just like it had always been.

Sora reached out to join us, but as soon as he did, darkness pooled around his feet as well. He stumbled a bit, and looked up at us quickly, stretching out his hand as far as it would go. I tried to step forward to offer him help, but the darkness was wrapped around my ankles, holding me in place. I was unable to release the wooden sword, scared I might need it later. All I could do was hope that Sora could reach Riku in time.

The darkness inched up, higher and higher, wrapping around the three of us. My stomach dropped and my heart skipped a beat. I realized, just before the darkness completely overtook us, that Sora would not be able to take Riku's hand.

"Sora!"

Riku and I plummeted through the darkness, my stomach in my throat. My ears rang with the sudden silence and I closed my eyes tightly. Everything was hitting me at once: Sora, on the island, Kairi, lost, our home, destroyed. The only thing left was Riku. With a start, I realized that the sword had been yanked from my grip. My free hand searched the darkness for him and found his other hand quickly. I relaxed a little bit with the relief that he, at least, was still here.


	2. A Helping Hand

Chapter 2

I came back to consciousness slowly, my first awareness that everything hurt. My second was that my bed felt like it was made of rocks and my comforter was missing. I opened my eyes and saw above me a sky clear of clouds, but still gray in color. Sitting up, I realized that my bed felt like it was made of rocks because I had indeed been lying on rocks.

Finally, I remembered what had happened last night. I closed my eyes again, the memories playing like a motion picture behind my eyelids. The storm, the creatures, finding Sora, finding Riku, the horrible realization that Kairi was missing. Then, taking Riku's hand and falling into darkness.

"Riku," the gasp escaped my lips. I jumped up, every inch of my body protesting the sudden movement, and spun around in a circle, searching for Riku.

"Riku!" How could this have happened? We had been together, fingers intertwined and now… How could he be gone too? I saw water a short distance away from me and grudgingly admitted that I had at least been lucky enough to stay dry. Looking around, it seemed as though I was in a crevasse, wide and extremely deep. But in front of me, there hovered several rock platforms, leading up and out of the crevasse.

I stared at them for a long moment in confusion, then looked around the canyon again. Riku, Sora, and Kairi were gone. I was alone. Wherever I was, was new, strange, and possibly dangerous. I had to continue on. It was clear Riku wasn't down here on my level, but perhaps he was above.

Stepping forward, I prepared myself to jump and grab onto the ledge. The pain in my body was still there, but I knew, when pressed, my arms would be able to hoist me up onto the platform. I was just about to jump when I saw a brown shape in the clear water. The sword! I plunged my hands into the water and grabbed it out. Looking it over, it seemed to be in perfect condition and in the light I could see the name carved into the handle was Sora's. My grip tightened. I would be damned before I let go of the sword. I'd keep it with me, and when I found Sora again, I would give it back to him.

With new determination, I jumped into the air, my fingertips barely catching the edge of the closest platform. I couldn't stop my body from swinging into the side of the platform, knocking the wind out of me. As much as I wanted to hang there in pain, I knew the longer I waited, the harder it would be to pull myself up. Groaning a little, I made my elbows bend, and the motion brought me up just enough to see over the platform.

My eyes widened in shock and delight. I heaved myself up onto the platform and ran forward, sword still clutched in my hand.

"Riku!" I dropped to my knees beside him, quickly looking him over. He didn't seem to have any injuries or anything wrong except the fact that he was unconscious. I shook his shoulder, trying to wake him up gently despite the terror that I felt and the need for him to wake up that very second.

"Riku," I said and his eyes fluttered open. Relief flooded through me. "Hey, Riku, look at me." He sat up slowly and did as I asked.

"Natsumi…" He looked around, taking in our surroundings much in the way I had—wary vigilance, shock about the floating platforms, and finally resolve. "Where are we?" he asked, his eyes once more on me. I shook my head.

"I don't know." I reached for his hand, needing to reassure myself that he was real. "I was worried I lost you too." His eyes softened. He squeezed my hand, once more comforting me and then the moment was gone.

"We have to figure out where we are," he told me, rising to his feet without so much as a wince. I mimicked his actions and together we looked at the next platform. We exchanged a look and with a short stretch, he jumped up. His fingertips gripped the platform and he hauled himself up. A few moments later, he popped his head over the rock and motioned for me to follow him.

I threw the sword up and over the edge before jumping up to follow it. My fingers latched onto the edge. This time when I pulled myself up, Riku helped me. His hands wrapped around my upper arms and when I was high enough up, my waist. He set me down on the platform. My heart slammed a beat against my rib cage: Was it just me, or did he hold on a moment longer than necessary? My face turned pink and only went pinker when he noticed. I cleared my throat and he looked away.

Abruptly, he leaned over and picked up wooden sword I had tossed up. He surveyed it, his eyes finding the name just as mine had. His face hardened and he looked at me again.

"We'll find them," I promised. The words fell from my lips with far more surety than I felt, but still Riku didn't relax. I stepped forward and almost reached out to him but the look on his face put up a barrier I couldn't reach past.

"Let's go," he said. He turned away and jumped up to the next platform and I followed him. Higher and higher we went, until my muscles had loosened and the pain wasn't as prominent. Finally we reached the top and Riku paused to let me catch up. I rubbed at my arms, which were relentlessly sore. Then I looked up, at what was behind Riku.

My eyes widened. In front of us stood an enormous peach bricked castle, although I used the term castle loosely. It looked nothing like the places that housed princesses in my children's books. Parts of it were crumbling and other parts were held up only by metal supports. Nevertheless, it still looked very grand.

"Where are we?" I screamed in desperation, missing Sora and Kairi. I knew that if the four of us had been together, this adventure might actually be fun. Instead I felt scared and tired.

"You're in Hollow Bastion," an unfamiliar voice said behind us. We whirled around to find…nobody. There was nothing behind us except a dark space, swirling in nearly the same way as the orb that had overseen the destruction of our home. I took a wary step back.

"Who's there?" Riku called out, voice steady. A chuckle came from the direction of the portal and the sound of it set my nerves on a high precipice. Seconds later, the owner of the voice stepped out of the portal, and the whole thing vanished behind her. This was my first glimpse of a person from another world and I saw someone with pale green skin, pitch black eyes, and a staff in her hand and a crow on her shoulder. Her red nails were curled around the staff, they made a gentle tapping. The taps rang out once. Then she stopped.

"Who are you?" I asked uneasily, shifting closer to Riku. When she smiled at us, I tried to find something in it that seemed sinister, but all I found was amusement.

"My name is Maleficent," she told us, before again surveying us. I knew the moment she noticed how close I was to Riku, her eyes narrowed just a bit. Riku and I exchanged a glance.

"What's Hollow Bastion?" Riku asked. We both needed it to be validated, that we were actually in another world.

"_This_," she said, raising her arms wide and revealing the purple that accented the inside of her black robes, "is Hollow Bastion." Her arms lowered again and she fixed us with a smile that seemed…proud? Like she was impressed by us having found our way here. "Another world unlike the one you come from." I crossed my arms; my nerves were pushed over the edge.

"How do you know we come from another world?" Riku and I asked simultaneously. I quickly glanced over at him, but his eyes hadn't left the woman in front of him. The expression on her face became sympathetic as she looked at us, lost and scared in front of her.

"You are not the first travelers to find their way here after their worlds have been destroyed. It was the Heartless that swallowed your world and brought you here." She paused for a moment. "You two look quite exhausted." I realized she was right and I wanted nothing more than to fall into bed and sleep for days.

"Please," she said as another dark portal appeared next to her, "come stay in my castle…" She trailed off, looking at us expectantly.

"Riku."

"Natsumi," I said, catching on. She smiled at us.

"You're welcome to stay and regain your strength. Perhaps I will be able to help you return home." And with that, she vanished into the portal, expecting us to follow. Another glance exchanged, we decided silently to follow her, to trust her. He looked down at the wooden sword.

"Maybe she can help us find Sora and Kairi, too," he said, just before the portal closed around us.

Moments later, we stumbled out of the portal, disoriented from being unable to see as we made our way through the portal. Maleficent stood there, waiting for us. When we found our footing again, she gestured for us to follow her and then quickly set off. The castle was dark, rubble lay in some areas, and the carpet, which had surely once been a rich red, was now faded and scuffed. We followed Maleficent, down corridors and around corners until finally, we stopped in a section of the castle that seemed marginally better kept than the rest of the building.

"You can stay in these rooms until the time comes for you to return home." She tapped her staff on the ground and two doors opened, each housing an identical room. "Regain your strength, and then come see me. I'll be in the audience chamber. Just follow the way we came and you'll find it." Riku nodded and I knew this meant he remembered the way back. I nodded too. With that, she turned and began to walk away before stopping again.

"Oh, and I would prefer if you don't go exploring the castle. Even this place is not completely free of Heartless." Then she was gone.

"We'd better do as she says. You look like you're about to keel over," Riku told me.

"Feel like it too," I mumbled. He smiled at me and walked into his new bedroom. As he moved to shut the door, a sudden panic filled me.

"Riku," I said, pushing against the door so he couldn't shut it. "Can I stay in your room?" I looked down at the floor, scared and embarrassed, but knowing that I needed to stay with him for fear that he would disappear too.

"I just…" His eyes softened in understanding and he opened the door for me to enter.

"It'll be okay." He placed Sora's sword on the dresser and sat down on the bed to take his shoes off. I stood there for a moment, taking in the room. The carpet was a deep green, and the room was edged in wood trim. It gave the room a warm, earthy feeling and with a shuddering breath, I realized that it reminded me so much of home.

Years of friendship just barely made me comfortable enough with my crush to kick off my own shoes and slide onto the bed. The mattress was heavenly and I felt my body seemingly melt into it. I closed my eyes and reached tentatively for Riku. His hand found mine first, our fingers intertwining. I started to relax, comforted by the fact that Riku was still with me. His words echoed in my head and I started to believe him.

Standing in front of Maleficent, it was easy to forget the gentle bliss of waking up next to Riku. Being in her presence was a harsh reminder that we were far from home and without Sora and Kairi. Despite the reminder she caused, the woman was never anything but kind and sympathetic as we told her our tale.

She sat, looking troubled as we trailed off.

"I am sorry to hear of your friends," she said. She stood, once more revealing the purple flares in her robes. "And it would be my pleasure to help you find them." Her heels clacked as the stepped down from the throne and towards us. My heart soared and I thanked our good fortune that we happened upon someone kind and selfless.

"But I worry that you still need to recuperate from the attack you both survived."

"Please," I yelled, unable to stop myself, "Sora and Kairi are out there somewhere! We need to find them now!" She came closer and I worried that my outburst had been unspeakably rude and she would suddenly decide to rescind her help. I looked over at Riku, his face a bit surprised and a bit worried, as though he shared my fears.

She raised her hand near my face and I wasn't sure what to expect, but she merely brushed her fingers across my cheek and then held my chin with them. Her hold was gentle, but firm and there was something stern in her eyes that said it was in my best interests to listen to her. I swallowed with a faint dread, and did my best to hold her gaze.

"My dear, you really should respect your elders more. After all, I have so graciously offered to help you find your friends." She released my chin and the air that found my skin was unreasonably cold. I looked down at my feet, properly chastised.

"Yes ma'am."

"However, I am in need of assistance myself." I looked back up at her, relieved when I saw that any sign of irritation with me was gone. She turned her gaze to Riku instead and briefly rested her hand on his shoulder. "I hope you two will be able to help me, and in return I will be able to help you find your friends."

Riku nodded at her. "Anything we can do to help." Her lips curled up into a satisfied smile.

"I have no doubt you'll do splendidly. But for now, I do believe you still need to recover," she repeated. She turned and began to walk away from us. "I will come fetch you when the time is right." And she disappeared into darkness.

For a moment, Riku and I watched each other apprehensively; unsure of what to make of her abrupt and unsettling exits.

"You should be more careful of what you say to her." My mouth fell open. Riku was going to reprimand me?

"I just want to find Sora and Kairi!"

"I do too, but she's the only person who can help us." His voice rose a little in response.

"I know that, Riku." I paused and looked away from him. "I just don't feel right without them here." He sighed and his expression softened.

"I know what you mean. That's why we have to keep her happy. Do what she wants." He shrugged. "We'll find them in no time." I nodded at him, feeling a little better about the situation, but there was still a sliver of doubt in my mind.

Days passed, days spent wondering where Sora and Kairi were, if they were okay. When I wasn't thinking of them, I was thinking of Riku. We spent our time in his room, waiting for Maleficent to come find us again, speaking sparingly. After the first day I slept in my own room, but always found my way over to his. I still worried, perhaps irrationally, that he would suddenly be lost to me too. Yet every day there he was, always awake and alert long before I was. I wondered if now might be an appropriate time to confess to him, but it seemed selfish to think of myself when I didn't know if our friends were okay and I would be lying if I thought I had the courage to actually speak the words to him.

The routine of our days together was never broken, until somebody knocked three times on the door. We exchanged a glance and Riku went to answer it. In the days between when we had last seen Maleficent and when Riku opened the door, I had forgotten how startling her green skin could be. This was immediately offset by the smile she granted us with when she saw the both of us. From that smile I knew: The time was right.

I jumped off the bed before she could even start speaking.

"Come with me," she said, motioning for us to follow with her finger. We raced through the door after her, leaving it wide open in our haste. She led us through the corridors we had begun to memorize, but where we should have turned right for the audience room, she turned left instead.

Following her down this new corridor, I made note of the numerous doors on the walls on either side of us. Suddenly, the hallway opened up into an enormous room, which I guessed was the ballroom when the castle had actually been a castle and not just a home for wanderers. Maleficent stopped, raised her staff, and then brought it back down to the floor with a decisive thud. Two boxes appeared in front of her, both fairly long, but one substantially longer than the other.

"You may have noticed," she began, "that your wooden sword had no effect on the Heartless that attacked your island." I nodded at her.

"It was like it went right through them." I said.

"Very few things can affect them," she told us. Her voice sounded almost weary, as though she had personally counted the amount of weapons that could hold off the Heartless. "I had to make sure I would be able to procure both of you weapons with which to defend yourselves." With that, she gestured to the boxes and they opened at her command.

Inside rested the weapons she had gotten for us, the shorter one a sword in blue and red, shaped like a dragon's wing.

"The sword is for Riku." At this, he stepped forward and pulled it out of the box, testing the weight of it in his hand. I stepped closer as well, curious about what Maleficent had gotten for me. My curiosity quickly faded into confusion and disappointment as I took in my own weapon. It looked very much like Maleficent's staff, brown in color with an orb resting atop it, although this one was red.

She looked at me expectantly and I grabbed it from the box, realizing that it was much more intricate hers. The metal curved around the base of the orb in gently intricate spirals.

"These will defend you much better than a wooden plaything," she said. Riku nodded in agreement and waved his sword a few times; seeming as though he was already used to it.

"This is perfect," he said, looking back at Maleficent and then over at me. I was scared to say anything, not wanting to set her off the way I had earlier. Though I tried to hide it, the uneasiness seemed to show on my face, for she said, "Don't fret child. I will show you how to wield magic."

"But—"

"You have the potential for it," she said matter-of-factly and the compliment shut my mouth right away. I had potential for magic? I looked up at her and she smiled down at me like we shared a secret. I blushed; pleased that she thought I was worthy. Though I was okay on the islands with Riku and Sora always winning our fights when we played pirates, it felt nice to be the one singled out. Riku looked back and forth between us and the expression on his face sobered me.

"Thank you," I told Maleficent sincerely, clutching the staff in both hands and vowing to practice day and night with it so I wouldn't disappoint her.

She inclined her head in acceptance of my gratitude. "Now, Natsumi, I must speak to Riku alone for a moment." I nodded quickly, thinking nothing of her request, and began to walk away. "But don't go far, my child," she said to my back and I turned around quickly.

"Yes ma'am," I said and left the room.

I waited outside, holding my new staff up to the light. It was much heavier than the wooden swords we used to play battle with and I realized that I would have to learn how to fight in a completely different style. I held it in both hands and thrust the bottom of it forward, imagining it perfectly connecting with the head of one of those shadow Heartless. The image gave me pleasure and I wished I could have had this weapon back on the islands.

The staff was a bit shorter than Maleficent's too, short enough that I could twirl it in front of me, though I dropped it a few times, cringing at the sound it made on the floor. With relief, I learned that the staff was tougher than it looked—the meetings with the floor made no impression on it. I had just picked it up off the floor for the fourth time when Riku exited the room, empty handed.

"Where's your sword?" He looked at me with triumph on his face and it occurred to me that Maleficent had been teaching him tricks of his own.

"Waiting to be summoned," he told me. Before I could ask, he held out his hand and demonstrated what he meant. In a flash, his sword was back in his hand. Up close I could see what looked like a dragon's eye set into the hilt. My eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you do that?" He sent it away again, his hands as empty as when he had left the room.

"I just call for it. Maleficent taught me." His eyes moved to my staff as he said this and he surveyed it for a moment. "Speaking of, she's waiting to see you."

"Right," I said, remembering that she had told me of my potential for magic. The happy feeling returned and I gave him a small smile before I entered the room. Maleficent smiled at me and my first magic lesson began.

It was frustrating and lasted for hours and by the end I could only create a feeble fireball. I returned to my room, slightly disappointed by the fact that I couldn't summon my weapon like Riku but way too exhausted to do anything. It was half an hour into my lesson and I had begun to feel fatigue when Maleficent filled me in on how using magic took my own energy to create and will into the world. An hour into the lesson and I needed a break. An hour and a half and I was ready to quit, but Maleficent pushed me even harder until I was able to actually use a bit of magic.

I collapsed on my bed, releasing my staff to the floor and falling into a fitful sleep.


	3. A Strange New World

I fell on my back onto the floor with a gasp, just barely succeeding in dodging the attack Riku had aimed at me. Maleficent had insisted that we spar together, for a number of reasons that I didn't care about. It felt unfair, with me having just figured out how to cast a full fireball and a weak thunder attack, while Riku had essentially been training for this sword all his life. Nobody back home could beat him and while Maleficent assured us that this wasn't about who was better, I couldn't help but get angry over it.

I jumped back up and tried not to focus too much on my footwork. I realized that I had to keep Riku at long distance early on, and had the bruise to show for it. He also didn't have to deal with the fatigue of using magic. I had more stamina than I had during that first lesson, but it was still an issue.

Mustering up my energy I cast a lightning spell. It came straight down from the ceiling, but Riku just jumped back to avoid it. My frustration mounted higher, but then I noticed the round scorch mark I had caused. I gave it a surprised smile, pleased that my lightning spells were becoming stronger too, but the smile quickly vanished as Riku came at me again.

I held my staff in front of me defensively, realizing that at this point it would be useless to try any spells. I simply couldn't put any strength behind them, so I'd have to use just my staff to fight. Riku readied for the attack that may or may not knock my weapon completely from my hands.

"Enough," Maleficent's voice rang out through the ballroom. Relieved, I fell out of my defensive position and Riku maneuvered through his attack so that it gave me a wide berth. I couldn't help but be envious of his skill.

"This was an exercise for both of you to show the other what you are capable of. Together you should be more than ready for what lies ahead." Riku sent away his weapon in a burst of darkness while I held my staff the best I could with my aching arms. He looked over at me and our expressions were mirrored looks of confusion

"What lies ahead?" he echoed. Maleficent's fingers curled around her staff and the raven on her shoulder ruffled its feathers.

"Naturally, the Heartless may impede you on your search, but you may come across other adversaries as well." Her words made me uneasy and I wondered what could be worse than the Heartless, but couldn't bring myself to ask the question.

"When will we be able to start looking for them?" I asked instead.

"You may leave today. All your supplies have already been gathered. Come." She turned, her robes billowing out around her. The raven hopped off her shoulder and flew down the corridor ahead of her. We followed her as she revealed yet more of the castle to us and I wondered if the day would come when we would know all of its hallways and rooms. Our walk through the castle led us to what I thought was safe to assume was the very back of the structure.

Suddenly we were outside and standing in front of a great rocket. My eyes widened and my fingers clenched tightly around my staff.

"This will be your transportation for as long as you need it," she told us. I tore my eyes away from the ship and looked back at her. In the sunlight, her green skin was even more apparent, but the light also defined her high cheekbones. Looks were deceiving, I reminded myself. Maleficent had been nothing but kind to us.

"This will take us to other worlds?" Riku asked skeptically, examining the vehicle. I wanted to remind him that he was the one who thought a raft would get the four of us to other worlds.

"Indeed." Maleficent's pleased expression at our reaction to the ship faded and turned to worry. "However," she laid a hand on Riku's shoulder and then mine, "I do not wish you to be heartbroken if it happens your friend has gained new companions."

I couldn't help laughing out loud at this and Riku gave a little smirk as well.

"Sora wouldn't do that," I said brightly. "He'll look for us as long as it takes." She smiled indulgently at me, although it seemed as though there was a sharp edge to the expression.

"I do hope you're right, my child."

A few hours later we sat in the gummi ship, Riku at the navigation, much to my chagrin. When I'd laid eyes on it earlier I had been immediately consumed by daydreams of myself driving the ship, but Riku had other plans. I kept looking at him out of the corner of my eye. He already seemed at ease at the controls, dodging around meteors and the occasional Heartless. After a brief lesson from Maleficent, she had waved goodbye to us and we rocketed off into space in search of Sora and Kairi.

So far, we'd only seen Heartless and never ending floating space matter. As time passed, the enormity of our journey began to set in. How were we ever supposed to find our friends in this vast universe?

"Hey, Riku?"

"Yeah?" he answered, never looking away from the window as he steered the ship.

"How many other worlds do you think are out here?" I pulled my feet up onto my chair and hugged my knees close to my chest.

"I don't know." He gave a little shrug. "Why?"

"Just because we haven't seen any yet. How many can there really be?" He looked over at me for a split second and then returned his attention to driving.

"When we find Sora and Kairi, we'll find out how many." I smiled at him, giddy at the prospect of finally being able to set off with the three of them to travel the worlds as we'd wanted to for as long as I could remember.

We sat in silence after that, and I felt my strength returning. Becoming fatigued by magic use was something I had never expected when we began building the raft. Suddenly, I sat up straighter, not sure if I had seen something or if my eyes were playing tricks on me.

"There!" I jumped up as close as I could get to the glass of the window and pointed. I looked back at Riku, smiling widely before looking back out the window. I didn't want to let this first glimpse of another world slip away from me. From a distance, all I could see was a blur of pink and green. We pulled closer and closer and it brought into view one large forest and a clearing.

Riku steered the ship closer to this clearing, but right before we landed he realized that the clearing wasn't actually clear. He yanked the wheel as far as it could go to the left. With the sudden movement I lost my footing and fell to the ground, arms flailing for anything to grab onto. The gummi ship jerked and shuddered and came to a complete stop.

"Natsumi," Riku called into the silence.

"I'm okay." I sat up slowly, rubbing my head. "Is the ship okay?" He paused for a moment, taking in all the gauges and the few things that had fallen across the floor with me.

"I think so," he said uncertainly. I picked up my staff and walked across the ship to him, annoyed that Maleficent thought sending two teenagers off into space with no knowledge of space craft was a good idea. With a frown, Riku pressed a button on the console and the door of the ship opened and the ladder descended.

Our first steps onto our second new world were taken together. The grass underneath our feet was just like any we would find on Destiny Islands, green and lush, if a little unkempt. We walked around the table—which was the object Riku had swerved to avoid—and surveyed it. It looked as though it was set for a party, with various china cups, plates, and teapots lay out upon it.

"The tea, the tea!" A brown and red blur rushed past us and to the table, hands fluttering wildly over the settings. The person turned around abruptly and glared at us. I clamped my hand against my mouth to stifle a gasp; in front of us stood a rabbit, clad in a red coat and standing on two feet.

"You nearly ruined the party! What kind of person tries to destroy tea?" he shouted at us.

"It was an accident," Riku tried to explain as something knocked into his side and sent him falling against me. I steadied him the best I could.

"We thought this was a clearing," I added, watching as the second figure, a man this time, waddled around the table, checking each of the table settings.

"Of course this isn't a clearing, it's our tea party garden," the rabbit informed us haughtily, sticking his nose up in the air.

"Though it appears nothing is damaged," the man told his animal companion. The rabbit looked back at him, his anger disappearing some.

"We're sorry," I said. "It won't happen again."

"You make sure it doesn't," the rabbit nodded at us and walked over to the table where he stood with his friend and conversed quietly. I looked over at Riku.

"Do you think they've seen Sora and Kairi?"

"Can't hurt to ask," he said. He stood up straighter and raised his voice.

"Hey." The two looked up at him. "Have you seen two people come through here? About our age, a boy and a girl." They looked at each other thoughtfully and then back at us.

"You must join us for tea!" The rabbit exclaimed and they both raced around opposite sides of the table towards us. The man grabbed my hands and the rabbit grabbed Riku and they pulled us over to the table and forced us into chairs.

"No, we don't have time—" Riku started.

"Sugar?" The rabbit thrust the sugar bowl at him as the man poured tea for him out of a large yellow teapot.

"No—" he said, and the two turned towards me.

"You must have a cup of tea," the man insisted, already pouring a cup for me from a different teapot.

"We just want to find our friends," I said. The rabbit turned from where he was dunking a saucer into his teacup. His nose twitched and he screamed, "Clean cup, clean cup, move down!" And the two of them pushed us down the table like a game of musical chairs. They seemed to calm somewhat after we switched chairs and began to settle in with their own cups of tea.

"Our friends," Riku tried again. "A boy and a girl, have you seen them?"

"Is it their un-birthday?" the rabbit asked, adding sugar to a whole teapot and deftly shaking it so that not a drop was spilled.

"Um…" Riku and I looked at each other, confused, though neither of us dared to ask what an un-birthday was.

"Yes," I said quickly.

"It is?" the rabbit and man asked in unison, glee evident in their voices. They stood up quickly.

"Well if that is the case, you must go and find them!" The rabbit pulled me up from my chair and began pushing me toward the garden gate.

"And bring them back for the un-birthday party!" The man shoved Riku out after me. We turned back towards the garden as the pair ran away from us.

"Wait," Riku shouted.

"You didn't tell us if you saw them," I called futilely; they just ignored us and ran back to the table where they toasted each other and resumed their festivities.

"Well that was pointless…" We looked at each other again and turned towards the forest. With an unspoken agreement we set off into the darkness. We walked silently; wary of what other kind of people inhabited this world after our run in with the partiers. The occasional crowing of a bird I knew we didn't have on the islands followed us and I wondered if perhaps Maleficent's raven had followed us into this world.

As we wandered through the forest it became darker and darker until I could barely see Riku next to me. Our way was unimpeded, except for the gaggle of strange horn shaped creatures that passed in front of us and disappeared into the trees. Moments later we heard a splash come from the direction they went. Several times we came to places where the path split. Each time we took a path at random until I became certain we were lost.

"Riku…We're lost." I looked at him and could just make out the frown on his face.

"We should keep going," he said determinedly. He continued walking and I hurried after him. I was just about to say something else when the forest suddenly lightened and we emerged in a giant half clearing. The area was split into sections by grass far taller than it should be and lily pads grew out of the sides of the giant trees.

Riku, however, seemed unfazed by this new development. He walked through the clearing and over to a space between the grass. The way the stalks bent made it look as though it formed a doorway. I watched as his eyes widened and he looked back at me. He motioned me over and I hurried towards him and peeked through the doorway. My eyes widened as well and I faced him.

"There's—" I began to say, but stopped when I saw what was behind him. He whirled around and looked where I pointed and then looked back at me.

The cat grinned widely at us, its bushy purple striped tail swaying against the tree branch he laid on.

"Looking for something?" Riku and I jumped back, Riku's sword appearing in a flash of light. I held my staff in front of me, the orb at its top glowing dimly with the energy I was preparing to create a spell with.

"You can speak!" Riku pointed his sword at the cat, whose grin stretched impossibly wider.

"And sing, too," it said and proceeded to do so.

"But you're a cat," I protested, although as I said it, I realized how aware Maleficent's raven seemed, aware beyond its intelligence. Why shouldn't there somewhere be a cat that could speak and sing and hold conversations?

"A Cheshire Cat," it clarified. It stood up on its back legs and hopped across the tree branch, coming closer to us. "You look as though you have…lost something." Its tone was amused as I watched it uncertainly.

"We have," I told it. In my peripheral vision I saw Riku look at me sharply, and I gave him a miniscule shrug in return. "We're looking for our friends, a boy and a girl," I said, motioning with my hand their general heights.

"Oh yes, I've seen them."

"You have?" Riku exclaimed, his irritation at me disappearing in his delight.

"Have what?" it asked, eyes wide and bewildered.

"Seen them," Riku said. We watched in stunned silence as the cat nonchalantly yanked its head off its shoulders and balanced on top of it with one foot. I took a wary step back, trying to quell my nausea.

"Seen who?" My response became lost in my mouth as I watched the cat's head roll slightly beneath its foot. I could focus on nothing but how unnatural it was, how this cat could not exist. Riku pulled himself together faster than I could.

"Our friends," he replied, irritation back. I looked at him and wondered how he could say anything at all to the cat.

"Oh yes, the shadows came for them." As the cat said it, his eyes darted back and forth, like he was waiting for the so called shadows to appear and come for the three of us, too.

"What shadows?" we asked at the same time, and I knew we were thinking the same thing. The Heartless had been to this world. The Cheshire Cat grinned, and I had the sinking suspicion that we had finally asked it the right question. It bounced its head up into the air and it landed back on the cat's shoulders.

"The shadows that took that poor girl, stole her right from this world!" It feigned melodrama. I wondered if it was just trying to mess with us, as everything else seemed fond of doing lately.

"And the boy?" Riku asked softly, like he was afraid of knowing the answer.

"Oh, he's gone too," the Cheshire Cat said and before our eyes he began to fade from sight.

"Wait!" I called desperately, but it was too late. The cat disappeared, leaving only the hint of a song behind him, "…and the momewraths outgrabe…"

"The shadows." Riku and I looked at each other. There was only one thing the cat could mean.

"It has to be the Heartless," he said. I nodded at him and thought about what this meant. The realization was too horrible to say aloud. We stood there in silence, and I tried to pull myself together. The Cheshire Cat hadn't told us much, just enough that we both knew no good would come from continuing to search this world. In nonverbal agreement we went through the door we had been looking through when the cat first appeared.

The giant room we entered was furnished with a fireplace and a tall glass table with only one chair. We crossed the room and approached a door, which was oddly the perfect size for us to go through. Riku reached out to open the door and as he turned the handle, instead of opening, the door let out a yelp.

"Do you mind?" The doorknob opened its eyes opened blearily and then glared at us. "I'm trying to sleep."

"You've got to be kidding me," I said in exasperation. There really was no end to the strange things that inhabited this world.

"Certainly not," the doorknob replied, and then yawned widely. "I've got little else to do."

"I can imagine," Riku said wryly.

"Can you let us through?" I asked, hoping that Riku's comment hadn't upset it so much it wouldn't let us pass.

"If I do will you let me sleep?" it retorted.

"Yes." The doorknob pondered this for a moment, looking at the both of us. In the end, it sighed, agreed, and swung open for us to pass. We walked through quickly before it could change its mind.

"Thanks," I told it. I was truly grateful to the only thing that had been helpful all day. It mumbled something that I couldn't hear before it swung shut again. Riku and I walked through a hedge archway and suddenly, our gummi ship came into view. Relief filled me and I looked over at Riku.

"We must have gone in a circle," he said and began to walk towards the ship. I followed him and we boarded the ship. I sat down as he started the engines and felt still more relief when they started without a fuss. The ship shot up into space and soon, the world we had just visited was left behind and I couldn't distinguish it from the stars around it.

"Glad that's over…" I looked up at Riku. He took his eyes momentarily from where he was driving to look at me.

"It was a waste of time," he said, a bit of annoyance in his voice. The weapons of the ship fired and destroyed the group of Heartless that came at us. I thought about the encounters we had in that world and remembered what the Cheshire Cat had said.

"We learned one thing," I said slowly. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. "Sora and Kairi aren't there." At this, some of the tension lifted from his shoulders. Neither of us gave voice to the "but" tacked on at the end of the sentence.


	4. An Unexpected Reunion

Chapter 4

We flew through space in silence for so long that I started to think we'd find nothing further. The navigation gummi stayed pin pointed on Hollow Bastion's location, ready to lead us back when we grew too weary to continue. I was just about to suggest that we turn around and go back to the castle when another world finally came into view.

Without a word, Riku set about looking for a place we could land. He used much more care this time around and when the gummi ship set down on the ground it was with a much weaker shudder than when we crash landed before. We left the ship and entered the wide alley Riku had landed in. I was only able to look around for a moment before dozens of Heartless appeared.

I froze. They shivered and twitched around us, closing in. In moments they would have us surrounded. I knew all these things and yet I still couldn't make myself grab my staff and fight. Riku's sword appeared in his hand and without hesitation he began swinging through the Heartless. As he destroyed them they disappeared into black vapor, but more just rose up to take their place.

My staff was heavy on my back and breathing became hard. That was when the shadow Heartless honed in on me. It looked up at me with its large yellow eyes, unblinking. It swayed in place and then, it leaped.

"Natsumi!" In the breath between when the Heartless pounced at me and when he called my name, movement returned to my body. I grabbed my staff with one hand and swung it over my shoulder just in time to knock the shadow out of the air. As soon as it hit the ground it dissolved and I forced myself to move onto the next one, hurling a fireball at it. I didn't pause to watch it connect, but spared a glance at Riku.

He was holding his own, but more Heartless were converging on us every moment. I jumped back to gain space from the creatures and worked up the energy for the strongest lightning spell I could muster. The orb at the top of my staff glowed and when it reached its brightest, several bolts of lightning came down on the Heartless. The enemies it hit disappeared instantly and the few that were left, Riku took care of.

We stood there for a moment, breathing heavily. I could sense Riku's stare and was glad that my face was already flushed from exertion. After a couple more deep breaths I stood up straighter and began to walk away, keeping a firm grip on my staff.

"Let's go," I said, hoping that my tone conveyed that I didn't want him to ask. Regardless of whether my tone actually conveyed that or not, Riku asked anyway.

"Natsumi, what happened?" His footsteps echoed after me and I stepped out of the alley. The area was wide open, a fact that eased my worries a little bit, even though it was still dark. The lights posted around the perimeter offered minimal light, just enough that I knew there were shadows that Heartless could hide in, and a little bit more to let me know that currently, there weren't any Heartless around. A pair of giant doors on the other side of the square caught my attention.

I walked towards the doors, but didn't get far before a hand wrapped around my wrist. I looked over my shoulder and turned around, yanking my wrist from his grasp. He gave me a knowing look, but didn't repeat his question. Crossing my arms defensively, I looked away from him.

"It was nothing. I froze. It won't happen again." I started to walk away from him, across the plaza, vigilantly searching the shadows for Heartless.

"Why did you—"

"Let's just keep looking for Sora and Kairi," I cut him off. He fell into silence and followed me across the square. We reached the doors and I put my hands out and gave them the strongest push I could. When they didn't budge, I looked expectantly over at Riku, and though he had an exasperated expression, he still reached out and helped me push open the doors.

Despite the fact that both of us were pushing on the doors, they gave way very slowly and it was a few moments before we were able to see beyond them. Before the doors were even open completely, I had to blink a bit so my eyes could get used to the brightness. The new plaza in front of us was lit warmly with lanterns, which rested at regular intervals along the walls and in the plaza.

I entered the plaza with no hesitation, thinking that perhaps the Heartless would not follow us into this place that was much brighter than the place we had come from.

"Wait," Riku said, before I could take more than three steps into the welcoming light. I turned back to him. He still stood beneath the arch of the door, not even his toes passing the threshold.

"What?"

He looked around the area behind me warily, as though the plaza was teeming with danger. After a moment, he looked back at me and the wary expression dropped immediately.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head slightly. He stepped out of the shadows and stopped next to me, his eyes still taking in every detail of this new area. I looked around as well, and slowly, it dawned on me why this place was making Riku uneasy.

Despite the lights and the numerous shops that were around us, this place seemed just as deserted as the other district we had just come from. The café directly ahead of us had nobody sitting at the tables; the windows had their shutters drawn. The rest of the buildings were positioned awkwardly, but they all seemed closed as well.

"Riku…" Our eyes met, and I could see a bit of his uneasiness had returned, though he tried to hide it. "Does this place seem a bit…"

"Abandoned?" he finished. I nodded. "Yeah," he surveyed the plaza again, "yeah, it does."

"Now wha—" But before I could finish my question there was a loud crash and an only slightly quieter curse. Both of us looked toward the source of the noise and spotted what looked like the only open shop. Without a word, we raced over to the shop, throwing open the doors and looking around. There was nobody in the main room, but another crash alerted us to the presence of a back room.

Riku rushed through that door and I followed and we came face to face with the source of the noise. My eyes widened when I saw a blond man standing in front of what was unmistakably a gummi ship. The man was grimacing and rubbing the back of his head.

"Shouldn't be so difficult," he mumbled, looking down at a block he held in his other hand.

"Are you okay?" I asked, wondering if he'd hit his head on the spacecraft and that was the source of the noise.

"Huh?" He looked over at us, surprise showing momentarily before his irritation took over. "You punks always go barging into areas that are off limits?" he said, setting down the block on a nearby workbench and walking towards us.

"No, we just heard the crash and—"

"Yeah, yeah," he waved his hands flippantly at us. Pointing at the door we had just come through, he said, "Out."

Without questioning it, Riku and I backtracked through the door we had just entered, but at the front door of the shop we hesitated.

"You were working on a gummi ship," Riku said bluntly. The man showed confusion once again, the toothpick in his mouth nearly falling to the floor before he regained his composure. He brushed the side of his nose with his thumb and looked down at us.

"What do you kids know about gummis?"

"Enough," Riku crossed his arms as if to invite the man to challenge him. The man surveyed us for a moment longer before he burst into laughter. I looked over at Riku in surprise and saw that his arms had dropped again. We waited in confusion as his laughter trailed off and he held a hand over his eyes.

"Bunch of brats, think just cause they know how to fly a gummi they know everything about space crafts."

"We know plenty," Riku insisted again, but I had noticed something about the way the man had addressed us.

"What do you mean 'bunch of brats'?" I asked.

"There are other kids here?" Riku continued my thought, catching on.

"Like maybe a boy and a girl?" Against my will, my excitement was growing and I couldn't stop thinking that this was it, we had actually found them. The man eyed us warily. I could tell that he didn't trust us, regardless of what we knew about gummis.

"Why do you ask?" The man countered, looking down his nose at us.

"Look, can you just tell us if you've seen a kid with spiky brown hair, and a girl with red hair?" The man's expression changed slightly in recognition of Riku's description, just enough for us to know that he had seen Sora.

"You have seen Sora and Kairi!" I said, stepping towards him.

"Now slow down there," he said, holding up his hands. I stopped in my tracks and couldn't help the hurt look from crossing my face. Looking back at Riku, I rejoined him and did my best to make my face impassive. Seeming satisfied at our distance, he continued.

"First of all, who are you two?" I looked at Riku for guidance; it had been a long, exhausting day and I didn't know if I should tell this man who we were.

"Riku, and Natsumi," he said, gesturing at me, his fingers ever so slightly brushing the back of my hand. The shivers went all the way up my arm and curled around the base of my neck.

"Alright, Riku and Natsumi," the man said, mouth expanding into a grin. "Name's Cid, pleasure to meet you."

"Alright, Cid," I mimicked, more than slightly impatient with his pleasantries. "Have you seen Sora and Kairi?"

"As a matter of fact, I have," he said. "Had him run an errand for me, actually." He pointed outside, towards where we had come from. "Should be somewhere in the Third District."

"Really?" Riku and I asked in unison. Cid grinned at us again.

"Yup, really." I looked over at Riku and found him looking back at me.

"Let's go," he said. I nodded in agreement and looked back at Cid.

"Thank you," I told him hurriedly before running after Riku. When I left the shop, Riku was already halfway across the plaza, rushing towards the double doors that we had just walked through.

"Riku, wait up!" He didn't look back at me until he had reached the doors, and in his eyes I could see impatience, spurring me on faster until I finally reached the doors as well. Though we had left them open, they were shut again, and again it took both of us to actually push them open. The darkness of the Third District seemed foreboding, but I could see enough in the neon colored lights to know there weren't any Heartless just yet.

Riku strode confidently back into the Third District, uncaring of my hesitance. I followed him closely, keeping a wary eye on all of our surroundings until I saw him. I grabbed Riku's arms and pulled him to a halt.

"Sora," was the only explanation I gave. Riku's eyes immediately followed my gaze to where our friend was standing with two others. But neither of them was Kairi. Instead, Sora seemed to be travelling with a duck and a dog, who was somehow able to stand up on two legs. They were both dressed in clothes that lent an air of formality and nobility to them, despite the fact they were animals. Sora was smiling brightly, and in that moment I felt my heart clench. Maleficent's words returned unbidden to my mind.

_I do not wish you to be heartbroken if it happens your friend has found new companions._

I frowned down at the trio, but had no further time to think before I saw the flash of Riku's weapon, and then realized why he had drawn it. Heartless had appeared, and Sora and his new friends were in danger. Grabbing my staff, I followed Riku as he darted towards them. The three were preparing to battle the Heartless as well, but Riku and I were quicker. Riku quickly dispatched the Heartless advancing in front of them, while I took care of the two that had tried to sneak up behind Sora with a few lightning bolts.

Sora's astonished face made me break into a grin and I said, "Hey Sora."

"There you are," Riku said, and I could hear a bit of triumph in his voice as he sent away his weapon. "What's going on?" I replaced my staff on my back. Sora took a few shaky steps forward, looking from Riku to me and back again.

"Natsumi!" His hands were suddenly on my cheeks, and then just as suddenly, he was gone.

"Riku!" Sora grabbed Riku's cheeks and stretched his mouth wide. I grinned at them, overjoyed, and though Riku brushed Sora's hands away, I could see that he was ecstatic, too.

"Hey, hey," he said, "cut it out." He couldn't keep the grin off his face, though he tried to downplay it.

"I'm not dreaming this time, right?" Sora asked, still looking between the two of us, as though we would disappear if he looked away for too long. I looked at Riku, both of us still grinning as it began to sink in that no, none of us were dreaming.

"I hope not. Took forever to find you."

"And we didn't find the most helpful people…" I trailed off, caught off guard by Sora's sudden shift in attitude. The giddiness from earlier was gone and now he was looking behind us.

"Wait a second," he said, expression becoming more dismayed.

"Sora, what's wrong?"

He looked back at us, confusion in his eyes. "Where's Kairi?" I felt as though somebody had suddenly dumped ice water on me and simultaneously hollowed out my insides. Kairi. So she wasn't with Sora after all. Even though we hadn't seen her with him, I had somehow had a tiny hope inside of me that she was around somewhere. Our little group still wasn't complete.

Remembering Sora's new companions, I looked to where they stood behind him. Had Sora been looking for Kairi at all?

"Isn't she with you?" I looked over at Riku sharply, irritated at how calm he sounded. "Well, don't worry," he gave Sora a small smile. "I'm sure she made it off the island, too. We're finally free." Riku looked up at the dark sky above us, his face carrying the same eager expression it had the night our island was destroyed.

"Hey, she might even be looking for us now," Riku said, looking back down at Sora. The brunet's face still held onto worry. "We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry," Riku reassured him, but Sora's attention was elsewhere.

"Just leave everything to us," he said, motioning at me. "We know this—" Without warning Sora darted behind us, and we turned just in time to see the vapor of a shadow Heartless dissipate in the air. But what was more startling was the weapon Sora held in his hand: A giant key, which he spun around and rested on his shoulder before turning back to look at us. The grin on his face could only be described as proud.

"Leave it to who?" he asked cheekily.

"Sora, what did you—"

"What is that?" I interrupted.

"I've been looking for you, and Kairi too, with their help." He gestured at the duck and dog man. I turned slightly, regarding the two with suspicion.

"Who are they?"

The duck began to speak, and his voice warbled and squawked. "My name is—"

"We visited so many places and worlds, looking for you." I looked at him startled. He had been looking? But why with these two? The confusion lay in the back of my mind, a dark cloud settling over what I thought I knew. I didn't know what to say to dispel the cloud.

"Really?" Riku asked, and his eyes slid over to me. He could read the emotions that were on my face, even if Sora couldn't. "Well, what do you know?" He looked back at Sora and his voice wavered the smallest bit. "I never would have guessed."

"Oh, and guess what?" The dog spoke up, drawing our attention. My nerves were already frayed and the way he broke into our conversation set me off the edge. I couldn't stand that Sora was with them when he should be with me and Riku. The dog walked over to Sora and rested his hands—for they certainly weren't paws—on Sora's shoulders and my eyes narrowed a bit. "Sora's the Keyblade master. Who would've thought it?"

Sora turned, knocking the dog's hands off his shoulders. "What's that mean?" he exclaimed.

"So, this is called a Keyblade?" Riku asked. The four of us looked over at him in unison where he was holding up Sora's key, surveying it with an expression that unsettled me.

"Riku…"

"Hey, give it back!" Sora stepped forward and attempted to retrieve his weapon, but Riku moved back with perfect timing to throw Sora off balance. With one last look at the Keyblade, Riku returned it to Sora.

"Catch," he said and tossed it towards Sora. I stepped over to Riku and, while Sora fumbled with his Keyblade, I said, "What exactly are you thinking?" Riku just eyed me and quickly brought a finger to his lips before turning back to Sora and his new friends. That one gesture was enough to make my cheeks burn.

"Okay, so you're coming with us, right? We've got this awesome rocket. Wait 'til you see it!" I looked over at him, ready to tell him that Riku and I had our own ship, but now that we had found each other there was no way we could separate again.

"No, they can't come!" the duck squawked.

"Hey," I began, at the same time Sora said, "What?"

I was about to protest further when I felt fingers circle around my wrist.

"Riku, wha—" He put his finger to his lips again and pulled me forward.

"C'mon," he said quietly. Confused, I followed him away from Sora and towards where we had left the gummi ship. We walked in silence, but Riku never let go of my wrist and I couldn't stop thinking about the way Sora had claimed to be looking for us everywhere, but how untroubled he had seemed by the fact that the four of us weren't together. If I hadn't known better, I would have said he was giddy with the power of the Keyblade.

"Riku…" I looked up at the back of his head. "You don't think Sora replaced us with them, do you?" He stopped in his tracks and looked down at the ground. I wished I could see his face.

"I…"

"Poor children," Maleficent's voice cooed. We looked up and there she was, stepping out of a portal from the shadows towards us, her bird perched on her shoulder as always. "Come," she beckoned us and began to walk away. "I have something to show you."

Riku looked back at me and for the first time since I had met him, he seemed lost, confused. Without thinking, I loosened my wrist from his grasp and grabbed his hand with mine. I gave his hand a gentle squeeze and tried to give him my most reassuring smile. Riku was always there for me, always steady. Now it was my turn.

"Let's go," I said, walking ahead of him and maintaining my grip on his hand. We followed Maleficent down the alleyway and towards the way we had come from. I began to become worried that we would run into Sora again, but Maleficent led us in a different direction from where we had originally reunited with our friend. The three of us stepped into a wide area, and a window came into view through which we could see Sora and his two new friends.

Riku and I stopped abruptly. He looked over at me and gently disengaged his hand from mine and went to join Maleficent. The woman didn't look up as he approached, and didn't say anything when I didn't go over to them. I could see Sora perfectly fine from where I stood and the smile on his face as he talked to the duck and dog made my heart clench.

"You see? It's just as I told you," she turned to me briefly, as though to make sure that her words were getting across to me. "While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions. Evidently, now he values them far more than he does you." She paused for a moment and I took the opportunity to move closer, trying to find some evidence that her words were lies. Because how could it be that so soon after Riku and I disappeared again, Sora could look so carefree?

"You're better off without that wretched boy. Now, think no more of him, and come with me. I'll help you find what you're searching for…" She put a hand on my shoulder for a moment before moving to touch Riku's shoulder. _Kairi_, I thought. Maleficent _would_ help us. She had already provided us with transportation, and even more than that she was here for us now, when it appeared Sora had forsaken us.

Maleficent moved away from us slowly and opened a portal, the same way she had when we first met her. She motioned for us to follow her once more and Riku and I began to enter the portal when I remembered something.

"The gummi ship," I said softly, subdued by my recent revelation.

"I will take care of it," she assured me before stepping fully into the portal and vanishing from view. Before Riku could follow her, I grabbed his hand again. I didn't want to ask the same question I had before, but the words tumbled out of my mouth.

"Do you really think Sora replaced us with them?" He looked behind me, towards the house and after a moment his eyes narrowed.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah I do. But now we can focus on finding Kairi." Freeing his hand from mine, Riku went into the portal and was gone. I looked back over at the house one last time, and the sight of Sora laughing with his new friends made my heart ache. _Fine_, I decided. Riku and I would be the ones to find Kairi, while Sora forgot all about us. I turned away from Sora and stepped through the portal, ready to listen to anything Maleficent said so we could find Kairi.


	5. A New Lead

Chapter 5

After we returned to Hollow Bastion, the days that followed were filled with waiting. More often than not I was unable to find Riku, and so spent my time wandering about the castle. Maleficent was also no where to be found; my practices in magic came to a halt. I began to grow impatient. She had promised us that she would help us find Kairi, so where was she now? It was impossible for me to keep still and in my wanderings of the castle I began to know it well. The hidden staircases, the secret tunnels beneath, I had extensive knowledge of it all.

It didn't take long before I was bored of the entire thing. Despite Maleficent saying she would take care of the gummi ship, I hadn't seen it since the day we found Sora. Not that I knew how to pilot it to get anywhere anyways. I began to make my way towards the front of the castle; thinking that I would be able to at least explore the world Riku and I were calling home.

Before I reached the doors however, I heard voices, one of which belonged to Maleficent. I didn't know that anybody else was in the castle besides us. Curious, and a bit hopeful that she had some information on Kairi, I crept closer to the door to listen.

"Why don't we just use the Heartless again?" a man asked. "I don't understand how you think those brats will be useful." There was a moment of silence before Maleficent replied.

"It's too dangerous. They nearly destroyed the last one."

"I think beardy here is trying to volunteer for the gig," a third voice spoke up, dripping with sarcasm.

"Princess Jasmine will hardly be a problem," the first man replied.

"Well then," Maleficent said, "Off with you." Another pause. "Don't forget the Keyhole."

"Child's play," the man said dismissively. There was a longer silence this time before Maleficent spoke.

"The children will be quite useful," she said in a voice that made it sound as though she were only speaking to herself. "Natsumi." I jumped away from the door and covered my mouth with my hands, though I had made no sound. "Come here child." At her command, the door opened inward. The first thing I noticed was that she was entirely alone. There was not one person there to account for the voices I had heard. And no other way out of the room.

I stepped forward tentatively, ashamed at having been caught eavesdropping, and unsure if the sick feeling in my stomach was from their hushed conversation or being caught.

"Don't fret," she told me. Her voice sounded gentler than it had when she was speaking before.

"Who were you talking to?" I asked her, and then immediately wondered if I was being too impertinent. She looked around the room, her eyes narrowed.

"Colleagues," she said vaguely. Her black gaze turned back to me. "You will meet them in due time. Now," she put her hand on my shoulder. "Have you been practicing your magic?" I stared at her for a moment before slowly shaking my head. Frowning at me, her grip around my shoulder tightened. There was disappointment in her eyes and I blushed with more shame.

"That won't do," she said. "For you see, I believe I know how to find your friend."

"Kairi?" I asked hopefully.

"However, I can't expect you to be able to help her if you haven't been training."

"I'll do whatever it takes—anything! How do I help Kairi?" Maleficent smiled at my eagerness. She waved her staff and an image of a girl appeared.

"This is Princess Jasmine," Maleficent said. "I believe she may have knowledge of how to find your friend, so I need her brought here." I hesitated. What she was saying sounded an awful lot like kidnapping.

"Why does she need to come here? Why can't we just talk to her?" Maleficent looked at me sympathetically.

"Unfortunately dear, it's not that simple. For the information to be obtained, Princess Jasmine has to be here, in Hollow Bastion." I bit my lip and looked between her and the image of Princess Jasmine in indecision.

"No harm will come to her," Maleficent added. I surveyed her for a bit longer, recalling how much she had already done for us—given us shelter, food, a way to fight, to find our friends—and never asked for anything in return. And if no harm would come to Princess Jasmine, well then, what was the problem?

"Okay," I agreed. "Riku and I will find Princess Jasmine and bring her here." Maleficent's face lit up in a prideful smile.

"Wonderful," she drew out the word languidly. "Now go find Riku, and bring him here." She took her hand off my shoulder and stood up to her full height. "I have business to attend to, so just wait here. I will come for you when the time is right."

"Yes ma'am," I said. Maleficent smiled at me and then summoned a portal and disappeared. For a long moment, my feet wouldn't move, and then, suddenly, I was running. I burst through the doors. _We can find Kairi_. Kept running down the hall. _Maleficent will help us._

When I reached the hallway where our rooms were, Riku's door was open and I raced through it, half surprised to see him sitting at the desk. His hair hung in his face as he leaned over a book. When he reached up to brush away that hair, it revealed the intensity in his eyes. I could only imagine how I would feel if he looked at me in such a way.

My cheeks flushed even though he wasn't looking at me and I forced myself to remember my task. I cleared my throat and he looked up at me, closing the book as he did so. He remained seated, my voice wouldn't come. How could it be so difficult to say one simple thing? Was I really so terrified and petty that I worried about him liking Kairi better?

"Maleficent," I said, "she thinks she found Kairi." Riku's eyes widened and he was immediately out of his chair and walking towards me.

"Really? Where?" I nodded at his first question, and could only shrug at his second. I should have thought a little more about how to tell him this before I barged into his room.

"Well, she didn't exactly _find_ her," I said. When his brow furrowed a little in confusion and the excitement in his eyes faded I rushed onward. "But she found somebody who might know where Kairi is." He paused for a moment.

"Okay," Riku said slowly, picking up on the fact that I wasn't as excited as I should be. "So this somebody…Where are they?" I shook my head and shrugged at him again.

"Maleficent knows," I told him. "But Riku…" I looked up at him, wondering if he would think me despicable for having already agreed with Maleficent that we would bring Princess Jasmine to Hollow Bastion. "We have to bring her here." I hardly whispered it. Saying aloud that we were going actually going to kidnap somebody left a sour taste in my mouth.

Riku frowned at me, his lips parting slightly to wrap around the syllable, "Oh." We stared at each other for a moment and I realized that I had been nervously rubbing my collarbone since this conversation started. I didn't have to say anything else for him to know that I had already told Maleficent we would find her.

"And this girl knows where Kairi is?" We still hadn't broken eye contact; he stared at me unflinchingly, demanding the truth. I looked away, feeling the thin uncertainty of my "Maybe," and hating that we didn't have something more concrete to go on. Talking to him like this made me realize how ridiculous and convoluted it sounded, that this one girl we had never met might know where Kairi was.

"Well," he said and I looked up at him apprehensively, "Then it's worth a shot, isn't it?" He gave me a small smile. I tried to smile back at him, but still couldn't shake the guilty feeling that came with knowing what we had just agreed to do. Our conversation ceased then, after I told him that we had to go meet Maleficent. We walked down the corridor, each of us lost in thought, and I wondered if, without use, my potential for magic would disappear. I focused my attention the way I would when trying to cast a spell. To my relief, I still felt that energy inside of me, the ebb and flow that reminded me painfully of the oceans of our island.

It also reminded me of Kairi, and the day I had finally officially met her. I had stood there with my arms crossed, a scowl on my face. Even though the boys had convinced me to give her a chance, the more I thought about it, the angrier I had gotten. When the door of her house had opened and the younger girl came out, I was greeted by a disarmingly sincere smile and an excited shout of "Natsumi!" She ran up to me, still smiling, unperturbed by the confused look on my face. For a moment I worried about if she would hug me, but she stopped just short of it and surveyed me with clear blue eyes. It felt like the ocean was staring into my soul.

"Sora and Riku told me all about you!" I blinked in confusion, not sure what to do with all her attention on me. Her mention of Sora and Riku made me realize that she hadn't even acknowledged them yet. A warm feeling settled, unbidden, in my stomach and when she reached for my hands, I allowed her to take them.

"I know we'll be great friends," she said. The honesty in her eyes and the firmness of her grip on my hands somehow had me smiling, all my earlier jealousy forgotten.

"Me too," I said quietly, and her smile grew somehow mischievous, as though by saying these words, we had entered a secret pact. From then on I told her everything, from how jealous I had actually been of her, to the feelings I harbored for Riku. I looked over at him from the corner of my eye, and suddenly I needed to bridge the distance that had grown between us.

"Do you remember the day you met Kairi?" I asked him. He looked over at me, the seriousness in his eyes dropping, replaced instead by a soft smile. This smile set off a million butterflies in my stomach, but were terribly offset by my inescapable jealousy of the place Kairi held in his heart. I loved the girl, but I hated what she meant to him.

"Of course I do," he said, and his voice sounded lighter than it had in weeks. We reached the room where I had overheard Maleficent and her colleagues. Riku would have continued walking past it had I not pushed the dark door open and entered. I could see the weight falling back onto his shoulders as he remembered what we were about to do.

"You were on the play island, right?" I prompted, hoping to bring back his earlier happiness. He turned back to me and I saw that my distraction had worked; there was once more a small smile on his face.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "Your parents made you stay home that night, so it was just me and Sora." He paused, looking around the room, ever aware of everything that surrounded him. I wondered what things would be like now if I had been there with them. Would I have still shared a paopu with Riku? Was I only here now because the paopu legend was true? Looking at Riku and the sharpness in his eyes, the confidence in his stance, I thought I would follow him anywhere, paopu or no.

"I was so mad at them, because I wanted to watch the meteor shower with you." He gave a small smile at the petulance that lingered in my voice, even years later.

"Sora and I were just walking along the beach, and then the meteor shower started. We were watching it when one of the meteors separated from the rest. It came straight for the island, and you know Sora," he said, his smile becoming a little bit bigger. "He ran right after it, never even stopped to question. I followed him and...there she was." The smile on his face softened a bit, tempered by sadness. It sounded like a fairy tale when he told it that way, like Kairi was a child from space sent to save us from the way of our constant island life. I'd never thought to ask him about it until now, just knew that one day it was just the three of us and then suddenly, the three of them instead.

"Hey," I said, as much to distract myself as to distract him, "We'll find her, Riku. It's only a matter of time." He looked at me with an expression, hopeful, but cautious, and said nothing.

As though summoned by my words, Maleficent appeared from a dark portal.

"Are you prepared?" she asked, more to Riku than to me. I nodded anyways and her teeth seemed luminescent as she smiled at us. It made me want to know what I could do to make her smile upon me again. She gestured to the still open portal, and didn't have to speak for us to know what she wanted.

We rushed forward, stepping past the threshold and I couldn't help the excitement I felt at once more travelling through the darkness. My stomach dropped and I relished the feeling as it closed around us. Mere moments later, it opened again, revealing a world covered in sand. The sudden brightness made me blink until it became bearable.

"This is Agrabah." I turned back to Maleficent as she stepped out of the portal. It closed behind her and she walked towards where we stood at the edge of the roof. "Princess Jasmine is here somewhere. Now remember," she placed a hand on each of our shoulders, "She needs to be brought to Hollow Bastion." Riku's eyes darted over to me, narrowed a bit, though at me or her words, I couldn't tell.

"Understood," he said. Maleficent smiled at us and just as suddenly as she had appeared in Hollow Bastion, she was gone again. We stared for a moment at the spot where she had been and then looked down upon Agrabah. It seemed deserted.

"Princess Jasmine has black hair," I told him. "Long, with a jeweled headband. She was dressed in blue." It was the best description I could give him and I hoped it was enough. He nodded in acknowledgment and continued to survey the town. "We'll have a better chance of seeing her if we stay on the roofs." We had a bird's eye view of the town from here, but even so, I was unable to see where Jasmine might be hiding.

"No good," Riku countered. "What if she's hiding in one of these buildings? There's nothing to do but start searching down there."

"Right," I said softly in agreement. Together we made our way down from the building and into the streets of Agrabah. This task was beginning to seem as hopeless as the one of finding Kairi again. We wandered for what seemed like hours, occasionally fighting Heartless, and the magic use was putting a strain on my body. I was beginning to feel sluggish, my physical attacks not hitting with as much power, my magic significantly weaker. A few times, Riku had to step in and protect me, right before the Heartless would have had me.

Finally, I stopped, drained, discouraged, and ready to give up.

"It's no use," I whined. "Jasmine's not anywhere, just like Kairi." Riku's expression darkened and he opened his mouth to say something, but stopped suddenly.

"Natsumi," he whispered. "There." I followed his gaze down the alley to where a man stood. I shivered as I looked into his dark eyes, the smirk on his face just as disconcerting. He was clothed all in black and red that looked like clay. The staff in his hand was a cobra made of gold. I stood up from where I had dropped into the sand and backed up closer to Riku. He held his weapon ready, but I could see the fatigue in his face. I didn't think the two of us would be enough to defeat this man, especially if any Heartless decided to show up as well.

"Princess Jasmine has already been found," he said, but his voice was dripping with sarcasm and contempt. Neither of us spoke, so the man continued. "She is in a secure location, safe." But again, the word didn't seem to be as comforting as it perhaps should have been. Suddenly, realization hit me.

"You're one of Maleficent's colleagues!" I almost said more, but stopped as his smirk grew and only became more sinister. _You're the one looking for the…Keyhole_, I thought.

"Ah yes," his gaze was fixed only on me now, and I couldn't tell what emotion brewed in his face; there were too many to name. "Maleficent's," his voice curled around her name like acrid smoke, "colleague," more contemptuously than when he had said Princess Jasmine's name.

"Where is Princess Jasmine?" Riku demanded, never loosening the grip he held on his sword. I gripped my own staff tighter, knowing instinctually that this man was far, far more powerful than the two of us combined.

"Come," he said simply, disappearing through the portals we were becoming so familiar with. There was no hesitation as we both stepped through and found ourselves on the other side.

The first thing I noticed was the girl, huddled against the wall, surrounded by Heartless. Without thinking, I rushed forward, batting the Heartless away, and hearing the sounds of Riku finishing them off behind me. I knelt down next to the girl, expecting her to cower away from me, but she met my stare with a glare, daring me to do anything more than I already had. She was strong.

"Why were the Heartless here?" I demanded, whirling on the man who had brought us here. The darkness of the room only made him seem more menacing, but I stood my ground.

"That is none of your concern," he said, frowning at me. "Take her to Hollow Bastion," he commanded, and I was reminded of our orders. We weren't here to protect this girl, but to steal her from her world, from her friends, and everything else she had ever known. He waved his hand and opened another portal. "This will take you back," he told us. "I have more pressing matters to attend to." And with that he was gone, though the portal loomed over us expectantly.

I sighed and looked down at Jasmine again. "Come on," I said, offering her my hand. She continued to glare at me.

"Why are you working with Jafar?" she asked incredulously, standing by herself. The princess was only a little bit taller than me, but the way she carried herself made her seem so much taller.

"We aren't working with him," Riku said, and though it wasn't exactly the truth, it wasn't quite a lie either. "But we need you to come with us." I held my breath, ready for her to turn us down, to fight, and that was exactly what she did.

"I most certainly will not!" She made no move to get away from us, and I wondered if she was scared at all, or just angry.

"You have to," I said, trying and failing to keep my tone from slipping into begging. Jasmine looked at me with disgust and at last took a step away from us. "You have to come with us because you can help us find our friend." At this she looked confused.

"Your friend? How am I supposed to help you find your friend?" Her confusion faded away, and she again showed her righteous anger. "And for that matter, why would I want to if you're working with Jafar?"

"Like I said," Riku defended, "We're not working with him. We just met him." He looked at me as he said the next part, and though he didn't say it, I felt the "I told you so" that was building on his tongue. "But somebody we know told us that you know where Kairi is." Perhaps she was beginning to believe us, or perhaps she was just exhausted from being captured and surrounded by Heartless, but her defensive posture began to waver.

"Kairi?" Her sweet voice rang out in the room, and I noticed for the first time the rays of light that were piercing their way through the rotting boards that had been placed over the windows. She shook her head. "Your friend is confused," she told us. "I don't know any Kairi." My stomach dropped and I felt the hope leave me, even as I continued to protest.

"Maybe you don't know her by name. She has red hair and blue eyes. She's a year younger than us, and the sweetest girl you'll ever know…" My frenzied explanation tapered off as she continued to shake her head.

"No," she said, and now her voice was sad as she surveyed us, finally realizing that we weren't evil, just desperate. "I'm sorry," she stepped forward and placed a hand on my forearm. My skin felt warm at her touch, and this warmth spread through me. The answer came to me with a steadfastness I hadn't felt in weeks.

"I believe you," I mumbled and looked up into her brown eyes. The sympathy there, instead of angering me, gave me strength. I turned from her and towards one of the windows.

"Natsumi," Riku said. "Maleficent said she had to be in Hollow Bastion for us to get the information."

"I know," I said, strength returning to my voice. "But Riku, she doesn't know anything. We knew it was a long shot to begin with, and even Maleficent said she only _might_ know about Kairi." He stared at me, and then looked at Princess Jasmine. His internal deliberation lasted for a moment, and then his shoulders sagged in defeat. He believed her, believed me, but the disappointment was probably killing him.

Without speaking, I lifted up my staff and used it to smash the boards away from the window and the light from outside poured into the room. Once I was certain there was enough room and no splinters sticking out I stepped away from the window.

"Go," I told her, and the portal in the corner pulsed in what seemed to be outrage. I looked at it warily and placed myself in between it and her. "We'll handle Jafar." _And Maleficent._ She looked between the two of us and gave us a genuine smile.

"Thank you." And then she was gone, through the window quicker than I had thought her capable of. For a long moment Riku and I just stood there in silence.

"Now what," I asked him. He looked at me, and I tried to remember that the frustration in his gaze was not directed at me. Probably. Sometime while we were talking to Jasmine he had sent his weapon away. Now he used his empty hand to run his fingers through his hair and sighed.

"I don't know… We go back to Hollow Bastion, I guess." As he said this, the portal twitched one final time and then suddenly dissipated. "Or not," he mumbled. With no where else to go, we left through the window, Riku first, and then myself. The silence stuck with us for a long while after that, and I began to worry that Riku blamed me for the fact that we weren't any closer to finding Kairi.

I wasn't worried that we'd be stuck in this world; sure Maleficent would find us and make sure we got home safely. It was strange, in that moment I didn't know whether home meant Hollow Bastion or Destiny Islands. The realization left me even quieter than I already was.

As we continued walking, the buildings began to get thinner and thinner, until we were on the outskirts of the town. The wind whipped up around us, grains of sand pelting my exposed skin. I wondered where Maleficent was. I wondered where Kairi was. Looking over at where I thought Riku would be next to me, I realized that he wasn't by my side. I turned around and there he was, standing like a lost child as the storm increased around him.

"I'm sorry!" His eyes widened briefly before narrowing against the swirling sand.

"For what?" He had to raise his voice to be heard over the wind. I took several steps closer to him, until only a couple feet of space separated us.

"For bringing us here," I said, gesturing to the god forsaken desert around us. "For being wrong about Kairi. For—"

"Natsumi, stop." We stood there for a moment, blinking against the sandstorm. "You were just doing what you thought was best. I…" He looked away from me and then back up, his eyes filled with sudden determination. "I would do anything to find Kairi." His voice was so strong, it was nearly impossible for me to believe that he had shown any weakness in the first place.

"C'mon," he said, giving the desert one last sweeping glance. "There's nothing out here."

We turned and headed back into the city, the sandstorm dying down little by little. It had just died down completely when a portal blocked us from going any further. At first I felt relieved, thinking it was Maleficent to take us back to Hollow Bastion, but then I remembered how Jafar had also appeared by the same means.

My worries were for nothing; almost immediately Maleficent emerged from the portal, her raven perched on her shoulder.

"Why did you release the girl?" Her tone was tense, trying hard to work at patience. She sounded nothing like the kind woman who had been helping us since we met her.

"Because she doesn't know anything about Kairi." I said softly. Where once I had been sure she would understand, I was now uncertain.

Irritation flashed in Maleficent's eyes, sharp and bright. For the first time since we met her, I was truly terrified of her ire, and of the power I knew she held from those brutal magic sessions with her. Her raven ruffled his feathers, his sentient eyes looking down upon us with contempt. It hit me, swift and clearly in that moment that this woman was not our ally.

"Of course she doesn't. However, I still need you to bring her to me...or perhaps you would prefer your friend was returned to the Heartless?"

"You found Kairi?" Riku's voice was fervent, hopeful.

"You've been using us this whole time?" The question passed my lips, though I already knew what the answer was. We were puppets and nothing more, lost children easily manipulated by her mask of kindness. I was stupid not realize, she had even stated it, how useful we would be.

"Indeed. Now, if you don't bring me the princess I will have no choice but to return your friend to the darkness. She will be easy fodder for the Heartless." I was taken aback by the completeness of her cruelty, unable to even think through it: Sacrifice an innocent girl in exchange for Kairi, or leave my friend a victim to the Heartless to save a girl I barely knew? Riku spoke before coherence returned to me.

"We'll do it." Eyes wide, I turned to Riku, prepared to protest. There had to be some other way, any other way. But Maleficent knew the leverage she held, knew the power she held over Riku by having Kairi. She smiled with what could only be called triumph.

"You will find the girl with Jafar in the Cave of Wonders." She waved her arms and a portal appeared, ready to take us to the cave. "Do not fail me again. I will not be so lenient the next time," she warned. With that she disappeared, leaving us with each other.

"Riku, we can't give Princess Jasmine to her." I snapped, a little bit desperate and a lot angry that he thought he could speak for me, especially in a situation like this, even though I had made the same decision for him earlier.

"We have no other choice! You heard Maleficent. She'll give Kairi back to the Heartless." He glared at me, and I remembered the vow he had made in the desert, the promise to do whatever it took to find Kairi. Now here she was, dangled in front of him like a treat.

My old jealousy reared up, I was beginning to think that I would never be free of it. I wondered how Riku had gotten so attached to Kairi, so fast. Then I remembered how sweet she was, and how quickly she had won me over. There was no reason he shouldn't be so attached to her. The jealousy stuck in my throat; I could say nothing.

"We give Maleficent the princess and she gives us Kairi," he said, tone final. With one more quick glare, he walked through the portal and to what lay beyond it. And, like I always had and always would, I followed.


	6. An Impossible Choice

Chapter 6

The portal that Maleficent called up for us dropped us straight into what I could only assume was the Cave of Wonders. Stacks of gold were piled haphazardly on the floor, giant pillars set with jewels reached up into the darkness, and a single artificially red carpet ran through the center of the room. Though Maleficent had said we'd find Jafar here, I saw no sight of him, or Princess Jasmine.

Riku strode through the arched doorway at the end of the hall, and I followed him, our shoes tracking sand across the carpet. The carpet led us deeper and deeper into the cave and I felt a slow chill begin on my skin. My stomach churned at the idea of actually kidnapping this girl and I found myself trying desperately to find a way out of our situation.

"We can't do this," I said as firmly as I could. He didn't pause or turn around, it was as if he hadn't heard me at all. "Riku, she's a girl just like Kairi. She probably has a family here, friends." I paused for a moment, waiting for his reaction. When he remained silent I continued. "We don't know what Maleficent's going to do to her." The sentence felt strange in my mouth. For days the green tinged woman had been nothing but kind to us, helpful, even offering comfort when Sora abandoned us. Now I wasn't quite so sure Sora had abandoned us after all.

The only reaction I could see from him was in his clenched fists. "Don't you think I know that?" His voice was strained, and he reached up to run a hand through his hair. "But you heard Maleficent. She'll return Kairi to the Heartless."

As if his words had summoned them, several Heartless materialized from the shadows, new types that we had never seen or fought before. Our conversation ceased as he summoned his sword and I pulled my staff over my shoulder, no time to cast a spell as the Heartless lunged at me. I dodged to the side, heavily falling into a stack of gold and jewels that rained down on me and crashed to the ground. My shoulder throbbed with pain, but the Heartless flew through the air towards me, their black faces seeming to mock me from behind their red bodies.

Pointing my staff at it, I conjured a fireball, but the spell soared right past the Heartless as it dodged out of the way. The fight continued on like this for a long while before I finally caught on to how to aim where I believed the Heartless was going to be. My fireball spell at last made contact, and a triumphant smile began to cross my face before I saw the fire spell get absorbed into the creature's red body. The Heartless flew through the air towards me, suddenly much faster than it had been a moment ago.

My eyes widened and I tried to maneuver out of the way, but I wasn't fast enough for the attack to miss me completely. It caught me in my already throbbing shoulder, the weight and heat of its body much more than I was expecting. I fell to the ground and looked up frantically as the Heartless circled back, this time with four more like it.

"Oh, not fair," I breathed. I stood defiantly and on instinct, tried to summon a spell I hadn't yet mastered: blizzard. My weak flurry flew at the Heartless, only managing to hurt two before it was obliterated by their fire magic. I rolled forward, underneath them, and jumped up, whirling around to hit them with my staff. The two that I had managed to hit with my blizzard spell disappeared in a black cloud. The other three turned around, and if they had been able to show emotion, I would have thought they were pissed.

Quickly, I called up the memory of working the blizzard spell for the first time, the cool rush that had replaced the heat in my veins from the fight, the way the flurries had actually really hurt them. This time, when I cast the spell, it was more powerful, and the last three Heartless evaporated into the air.

The room dimmed suddenly now that the Heartless were gone, and I found myself momentarily blind. I didn't dare put my staff away, still on edge.

"Riku?" I called out into the blackness. There was a pause during which I thought I would lose my mind, then, finally, a response.

"I'm alright." Slowly, my eyes adjusted enough that I could see him walking towards me. "Are you?"

"Yeah." I was about to have a massive bruise on my right arm, but that didn't seem to matter after the fact of surviving this most recent Heartless attack. All my mind could focus on now that we were out of danger was Jasmine and what we had promised to do. Riku nodded at me before turning and heading deeper into the Cave of Wonders.

"Riku," I raced after him. "Look at what we just did. We can save Kairi _without_ Maleficent, on our own! We're strong enough!" He whirled around on me, anger held in every inch of his body.

"So? It doesn't _matter_ how strong we are! Maleficent has Kairi. Do you think she won't make good on her threat? Do you think she won't toss Kairi back to the Heartless?"

"We don't know that she has Kairi for sure," I countered, fingers clenching around my staff. Why couldn't he see that there had to be another way?

"And you're willing to take that chance?" His tone was incredulous, looking at me as though I hadn't changed at all from the little girl who made Sora cry all those years ago. Looking at me as though I'd said I would throw Kairi back to the darkness myself.

"Of course not!" I defended, although I knew that was exactly how my words had sounded. "I just…Princess Jasmine…" I trailed off, not knowing quite what I wanted to say, or how to get my point across. I realized I was fighting a losing argument.

"Is she more important than Kairi?" He asked me, daring me to say yes, daring me to give voice to the conflict I thought I had been able to let go of long ago.

"No," I admitted. I thought of how Kairi had been excited to see me all those years ago. The way her face lit up when she smiled, and how she was only too happy to bestow that smile on me. I thought of all the days we had spent together, and every day we had yet to spend together. And just like that the fire fizzled out of me. "Of course not. Kairi is my friend."

His face softened like he finally understood the conflict in my mind. Without any more words we began walking further into the cave.

At times, I swore I could hear voices, until finally, the now familiar voice of Jafar echoed through the stone corridor.

"…those pets of yours? Doing so may actually prove useful to our—"

His voice cut off suddenly as an even more familiar voice yelled into the room.

"Wait a second. Are you Maleficent?" Riku and I exchanged a look before turning back to the entrance. I stepped forward, anxious to reunite with Sora, but Riku grabbed my arm, holding me back.

"Riku, it's Sora," I protested. It was easy to be hurt and to know that he had abandoned us when I couldn't hear his voice in the very next room. But now that we knew he was there, I just wanted to rush in there and make sure that he was okay. Riku's eyes told a different story, that whatever he thought of Maleficent, he also still believed that Sora had replaced us.

"Jafar, let Jasmine go!" This voice was completely new, a sharp reminder that Sora had new friends now, and was more interested in them than he was worried about us. I yanked my arm from Riku's grasp, my jaw set. Nothing had changed from when we had met him in Traverse Town. He still wasn't looking for us, or Kairi. I nodded at Riku in agreement. For now, we would wait and see how things played out.

"Not a chance," Jafar drawled, thoroughly enjoying the moment. "You see, she's a princess—one of seven who somehow hold the key to opening the door." My brow furrowed in confusion.

"Open…"

"…the door?" Sora's companions asked, the dog and the duck.

"But you fools won't live to see what lies beyond it." His voice suddenly rose. "Genie! My second wish: Crush them!"

"Genie, no!" The new man cried out. Without thinking I rushed out from our hiding spot just in time to see a large blue man—the genie—snap his fingers and engage Sora and his friends in a fight. A hand grabbed my arm again, and I whirled around angrily.

"Let go!" I jerked my arm from Riku's grasp, wincing at the jolt of pain this sent down my shoulder to my fingers. Staff in hand, I jumped down into the fray, only to be immediately thrown back by the Genie. Sora and his friends continued attacking Jafar and the Genie, but suddenly, Sora's friends were cornered by the Genie, leaving the boy to face Jafar on his own. I remembered the fear that had instinctually filled me when I first laid eyes on Jafar, and felt myself leap forward in a panic as Jafar brought his staff swinging towards Sora's head.

"Sora!" The boy looked over at me just as I pushed him out of the way and to the ground, the Keyblade falling from his hand. I threw up my own staff to try to block Jafar's blow, but it threw me to the ground.

"You," Jafar hissed, his face contorting in rage. I scrambled away from him, throwing out a fire spell at the same time he did. The fireballs connected, their power exploding and cloaking us in smoke. I coughed, panic filling me, would Maleficent throw Kairi to the darkness for my insolence? Would this be where I perished, at Jafar's hands?

I lashed out when gloved hands grabbed at me, doing my best to throw them off before I recognized the voice hissing into my ear.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Riku dragged me out of the fray, hoisting me up and helping me walk as we tried to get away from the fight. He lifted me back up onto the ledge where Jafar had first been standing, following swiftly.

"That was stupid, reckless," he chided me, while his eyes simultaneously checked me for injuries.

"Sora was in danger…" I pulled my knees up to my chest, confused and upset.

"He can handle himself," Riku said coldly, looking back over his shoulders at the fight. I followed his gaze, forced to admit to myself that he was right. Sora and the others were not only holding their own, but they were winning, even though Jafar must have used his last wish as Riku pulled me away. The man we knew was nowhere to be found. In his place was a large, black genie, but this didn't seem to deter Sora, or his friends. I frowned at everything I was seeing. Sora fighting this entity of darkness, Sora fighting with these new people especially.

"Okay," I said grudgingly.

"We can't forget what we have to do," Riku said, his eyes darting to the side as we both heard a feminine groan. It was Jasmine, coming to from whatever Jafar had done to her. Riku and I seemed to realize at the same time that a fully conscious Jasmine would be a problem. We stood and walked over to her, and I felt a stab of guilt through my heart as she reached up and rubbed her head.

I was just about to ask how we were supposed to get her to Hollow Bastion without Jafar or Maleficent's help when I saw the dark portal that awaited us.

"Of course," I muttered under my breath.

"You," Jasmine said softly. She had returned to consciousness just in time to see us betray her.

"Sorry, Princess," I replied just as softly, as Riku and I grabbed her, each of us pinning her arms to her sides.

"Unhand me!" She began struggling immediately when we forced her over to the portal. She seemed to recognize it, her eyes widening. "Let me go!" Her struggling was for nothing, we forced her through the portal, and the sensation of darkness which had become so familiar to us, seemed to be too much for her to handle.

She suddenly went limp between us, causing me to stumble, but Riku left me no time to regain my footing as we continued forward. The portal was gone as quietly as it had appeared, releasing us into Hollow Bastion.

I couldn't help the sigh of relief that left my lips at one more being in the castle's walls. Finally, it was over. Jasmine was here, and Maleficent would return Kairi to us, and together, the three of us would explore all the worlds we could find.

"Well, well, well." I stiffened at Malficent's voice, so much different, it seemed, than when we believed she was helping us. "You've succeeded." Though her words made it sound as though she were surprised, the smile on her face was anything but. Then I saw what she had been doing before we arrived: Watching Sora fight Jafar. I lowered my face, hoping that she hadn't seen me interfere in the fight between Jafar and Sora and his friends. Suddenly, my hands were empty, and I looked up in surprise to see Jasmine had disappeared.

"That smarmy vizier could've had 'em," a figure said, emerging from the darkness to reveal his blue skin and flaming hair, "If someone hadn't interfered." I flinched, silently praying that I wouldn't incur their wrath, but he continued on. "Or someone had stuck around to give him a hand." Riku glared at the pair of them.

"Hey, we did our part. We brought the princess, didn't we?" I looked over at Riku, stunned that he was able to speak to them so boldly. Maleficent stepped forward as well, seeming as unconcerned about Jafar as she had been about casting Kairi back into darkness.

"Jafar was beyond help, consumed by his own hatred. One should beware of letting it burn too fiercely."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the man said, "Lighten up. I'm as cool as they come, okay?" He turned to Riku, completely ignoring me. "By the way, kid, have we got something special for you."

"Huh?"

"We had a deal, yes?" Maleficent said, her lips parting into a grin. I pursed my own lips, and that subtle action seemed to draw Maleficent's gaze. Her smile grew menacing as she continued to stare at me, something about my reaction delighting her as she said, "You helped us, and we grant your wish." A wave of her hand made the empty scene dissipate, only for a new one to its place.

"Kairi!" Riku darted towards the image of our friend, lying unconscious in a dark space. I crossed my arms and, unable to look at the expression of mixed desire and triumph on his face, watched Maleficent instead.

"You've had her this whole time, haven't you?" I said, surprised by the strength behind my accusation. "That's the only reason you agreed to help us." My voice caught on the word help and this fact made me cringe. Maleficent was not a person I wanted to show any more weakness to.

"It matters not," she replied, looking down her nose at me. The orb on her staff grew brighter, and the raven on her shoulder cawed once. The noise raised the hair on the back of my neck. I shrank back a bit, looking to Riku for support and finding none.

"Go to her," she commanded us. "Your vessel is waiting."

"Just remember, this is no pleasure cruise." I jumped at the rough voice, spinning around to face the newcomer. "It won't be a pleasant voyage." He waved his arm for emphasis, revealing at the end of it a single silver hook. Riku backed away from the floating image of Kairi to give the man, and Maleficent, a derisive look.

"Why are you doing all of this for us? What's the catch?" Maleficent strode forward, her cloak billowing out around her as she opened her arms and had the audacity to look affronted at Riku's question.

"Catch? What's the catch? Silly boy. You're like a son to me." She looked over his shoulder as she said this, back towards me. I felt as though this entire meeting was a test and, if the witch's still growing smile was any indication, I was doing well. "I only want you to be happy," she finished, and she put such conviction in her voice, I knew she was still lying. She reached out to touch his face, fingers gently brushing across his cheek. I stiffened with a rage that was only just tempered by the fact that he immediately slapped her hand away. The sound of it echoed throughout the room, but she seemed entirely unfazed by his reaction.

"I seriously doubt that," he spat at her. She raised an eyebrow at him, as though he were nothing more than a temperamental child.

"Believe what you wish. But lest we forget, I kept my end of the bargain." Riku turned back to the image of Kairi one last time, before facing the man who would be taking us to Kairi.

"Fine. Take me to her," he said impatiently. The man with the hook for a hand sneered at us before disappearing back into the darkness. Riku followed him quickly, swallowed up by the shadows at the edges of the room.

"Boy, they sure are chummy, eh?" I whirled around, startled and shaking off the hand that had rested on my shoulder, which still ached from the fight in the Cave of Wonders. It was the man from earlier, the blue one with the flaming hair. I reached up to run a hand over my face and try to calm my racing heart, before looking back up at him. Though I couldn't say I trusted him—I mean, he _was_ working with Maleficent after all—there was something about his relaxed demeanor that was completely different than Maleficent or Jafar.

"Hardly," I scoffed, though I knew my false confidence wasn't enough to fool him. He didn't have to do anything except raise an eyebrow to make me blush in embarrassment. "He only cares about _her_," I muttered. His mouth turned up into a grin, though I had thought I hadn't said it loud enough for him to hear me.

"Schmooze him, kid," he said, clapping a hand on my shoulder one last time before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

I reached up to rub my sore shoulder, my brows furrowed in confusion. "Schmooze him?"

"You won't want to listen to Hades for advice," Maleficent said contemptuously, eyeing the spot where he had disappeared.

"No, I suppose you're the one I want to listen to." I rolled my eyes at her, wondering just how poorly she thought of us to think that I would even contemplate going to her for advice now. She didn't seem to catch my sarcasm as she smiled down at me.

"Yes, that's exactly right," she said. Her raven ruffled his feathers, as though he thought this was a perfectly reasonable thing to say. I crossed my arms, looking into the darkness behind her, thinking that I should just follow Riku and ignore everything she was saying.

"Child," she said, and in it I could hear the falseness I knew was there, and the sincerity I wanted to be there. She leaned down, closer to my eye level, but refrained from putting her hand on my shoulder as she had done in the past. "Even without her heart, that girl has a hold on him." I stiffened again, at every single part of what she had just said. It took me a moment to sift through the onslaught of confusion, anger, hurt, and concern that I was feeling.

"What do you mean…without her heart?" I looked up at Maleficent, realizing even as I said it that I was falling into the trap she was laying.

"Right now, that girl is nothing more than a lifeless puppet," she lamented. I let another long silence go by before I spoke again. I thought of the way Kairi smiled, the earnestness of her loyalty, and the unconditional way she gave her attention to everyone around her.

"Can she…can she get it back?" Maleficent looked at me sympathetically, and now she took the opportunity to place her hand on my shoulder and steer me towards where Riku and her colleague had disappeared.

"My dear, you think if you help her regain her heart he'll suddenly notice you?" I looked up at her sharply, feeling my cheeks flood with warmth. She had been watching the whole time, every look we exchanged, every comforting touch, and suddenly I knew why she had been watching me so intently when she had revealed that she had Kairi.

"Kairi's my friend," I said immediately, wincing at the knowing look she gave me.

"Of course, child," she said, and the conversation ended there, although I had a feeling that it was far, far from over.


	7. A Moment of Doubt

Chapter 7

"Again," Maleficent ordered, and more Heartless appeared from the ground. I looked over at where she stood on the quarterdeck, staff in hand and raven mysteriously missing.

"But—" I couldn't finish my protest before the Heartless lunged for me and I had to dodge. The witch had been training me mercilessly since we boarded Captain Hook's pirate ship and I had the marks to show for it, my clothes were beginning to fall apart. Though Hook had declared there to be no shenanigans aboard his vessel, he deferred to Maleficent with only an agitated grumble. And still I had yet to master the spell she wanted me to learn.

"Stop!" I yelled desperately, brandishing my staff at the Heartless as they advanced. For a split second, they obeyed and then, as they had invariably been doing all day, once more advanced on me. Reverting back to using my staff as a means of physically harming the creatures, I managed to fend off only a few of them before Maleficent summoned more.

Anger growing, I shot a glare up at her before summoning a barrage of lightning to come down upon the Heartless. In response, I recognized several elemental Heartless emerging at the front of the horde, though this time, they were yellow. I could only assume it was to deter me from attempting to use any more lightning magic. Well if Maleficent wanted to play games, I could play games too. With a smirk, I dodged the Heartless' magic and fired a newly mastered blizzard spell at them.

They vanished in a cloud of smoke before more took their place, this time in a multitude of colors, rendering all of my elemental magic useless. No matter what spell I used, it would only serve to increase the strength of them, leaving me at a crippling disadvantage. My fury mounted ever higher, and the orb at the top of my staff glowed more fiercely than I had ever seen it.

"ENOUGH!" I roared, and felt as the magic left my control to hit the Heartless in front of me. All at once, the horde stopped, frozen mid-flight and mid-attack. Even their spells hovered uselessly in the air. As I realized what I had finally been able to do, all the adrenaline left my body and I fell to my knees, letting out a soft, pathetic whimper, which I hoped Maleficent couldn't hear. Maybe now she would let me rest.

"Simply marvelous," she said, and I couldn't tell if her voice was proud, triumphant, or condescending. I had no reason to refuse the training she was offering me, other than the fact that I could hardly stand to be around her, but I wondered multiple times what interest she had in seeing me master more magic.

I looked up at her, vaguely surprised to see that her raven had returned at some point, and was now gazing down at me with a look akin to satisfaction. I forced my gaze away from the raven to focus only on her. Though Riku and I had begun to speak to her in increasingly disrespectful tones, she only ever seemed amused at our impetuousness.

"I'm done." I didn't wait to see her expression before carefully trudging through the wall of Heartless she had left in front of me. Without warning, I lifted my staff and whirled around, striking down the one Heartless she had thought I hadn't noticed was still moving. I looked at her triumphantly, but my mood was immediately soured by the fact that she wore an expression identical to mine.

"Hmph." Finally unimpeded, by Heartless or Maleficent, I was able to escape to the captain's cabin. My eyes were immediately drawn to the bed, where Kairi lay, looking for all the world like she was sleeping, except for the way her eyes were still open, staring unseeing. Suddenly, I was unable to contain my anger. Destroying Maleficent's Heartless hadn't been enough to dispel my revulsion of her and everything on this ship. Eyes narrowed, I threw my staff across the room and clenched my fists in my hair.

Riku looked up sharply from where he sat at Hook's desk, yet another book open in front of him.

"What are you reading?" I asked him, trying hard to reel in my frustration, although I had plenty to direct at him. He looked back down at the book and flipped it closed so that I could see the cover. No title graced it, just a large stylized heart with a thorny "x" crossing through its center. His eyes crossed over me towards Kairi, as they were wont to do lately, and hardened with resolve and irritation. From this expression I knew that he was no closer to finding a solution.

"I can't find it." He lowered his head onto his arms, voice muffled as he continued. "I've looked through all these books." He waved an arm without looking up and I turned away from him to look back at Kairi. It was weird looking over at her and finding her in the same position she had been last time I looked at her. The feeling made me realize that I was still expecting her to move, still waiting for her to sit up and giggle at us for being so concerned about her.

"All these books," he said, and now that I took in the room, I could see the piles of books strewn about, the pages of notes in careful handwriting, "they only talk about how people that lose their hearts become Heartless. There's nothing about people who lose their hearts staying empty shells." His voice broke on the last word, but I pretended not to notice.

I walked over to where my staff lay on the ground and picked it up. My emotions swirled within me, jealousy warring with love, anger with weariness, hope with despondency. Not only were we no closer to finding a solution for Kairi, but we also hadn't seen or heard anything of Sora in days. My fingers tightened around my staff. Like a magnet, Kairi drew my eyes again. I hated to admit the truth in Maleficent's words, but now that she had said it I could no longer ignore the nagging thought: Maybe if I saved Kairi, Riku would finally notice me instead.

"Don't worry, Riku," I said slowly. "We'll find her heart." He looked up over his arms, a thoughtful frown on his face and I found myself kneeling down next to Kairi. The silence in the room was only broken by the sound of his chair pushing back and his footsteps crossing the room towards us. My fingers found Kairi's as Riku stood behind us, silent for a long moment.

"Yeah," he said finally, "we will." Then he suddenly turned and walked away from us, the door shutting quietly behind him as he left. I frowned at Kairi, wondering where he could be going, but far too tired at the moment to follow. He probably wanted to be alone, as he often did lately.

"Oh, Kai…we're falling apart without you." I laid my head down on the bed next to her, shuddering when I realized that I couldn't even feel the subtle motion of her breathing. A sick feeling settled in my stomach and brought tears to my eyes. "Everybody's slipping away," I told her, my voice cracking on the words. I wondered if she could hear me, even though her heart was gone. Regardless of whether or not she could, I continued speaking, unable to keep the words in anymore. Kairi had always been the one I poured my heart out to.

"Sora's missing, and he's got new friends too." I took a deep breath and sighed into the comforter she lay on. The comforter smelled terrible, but I could faintly smell Kairi's scent over it. She had the comforting fragrance of our islands, sand and salty sea, and something more. "Riku's…I don't know, Kai." My voice was muffled by the bed sheets. "He's changing too, and I'm trying to keep him the same but…" I didn't have any words to explain what was happening to us under Maleficent's hand. "…but I'm scared I'm changing, too." I squeezed her hand and closed my eyes, the tears that I had been trying to hold back falling down my cheeks.

When I opened my eyes, it was to the familiar view of the play island on the horizon, and closer, the beach of the main island. My hands found the hem of my skirt, worrying that it was too short after the teasing I had gotten from the boys at school that day. I stumbled forward as a body crashed into me from behind, followed by the sound of footsteps, muffled against the dirt road.

"Natsumi!" Arms latched around me and a backpack swung against my shoulder.

"Selphie," I replied, shocked for a brief moment before I heard Kairi's voice behind her.

"I told her not to," she defended herself as she walked up next to me, but she was stifling a giggle while she said it. Though I tried to keep a disapproving frown on my face, I couldn't help but laugh as well, aiming a playful smack with my own backpack against Kairi's arm. "I'm sure you did," I said sarcastically. She let out a noise that was half a shriek, half a giggle, and grinned broadly at me.

"I did!" I rolled my eyes at her as she reached forward to pry Selphie off of me. "You guys are no fun," Selphie whined at us, throwing her backpack over her shoulder. She was completely oblivious to the fact that half of her school papers threatened to tumble to the ground. Finally free from her surprise attack, I straightened my shirt and checked my own backpack, to make sure she hadn't shaken anything loose.

"Sure, we aren't," I replied. "Where are Tidus and Wakka anyways?" Hanging out with Selphie was a rarity, although we often saw her in their company on the play island. In response, she scrunched up her face in displeasure and let out a huge breath.

"Those boneheads got detention," she complained, absentmindedly tapping her backpack against her shoulder.

"Detention?" I looked over at Kairi, who just shrugged at me with a disinterested expression. Clearly she had heard the story already, multiple times.

"I've _told_ them so many times!" I raised my eyebrow at her as she threw her arms up into the air, bag swinging wildly and finally losing several of her papers, one of them landing face up and presenting a large red "A". Kairi stopped and knelt down gracefully to pick up our friend's homework, even as Selphie continued to walk away. "I don't know how they think they can get away with pulling pranks on teachers!" And suddenly everything made sense. Tidus and Wakka were notorious for pulling pranks on teachers, but they were never cruel, just good natured fun. They must have really crossed a line to have gotten detention for one of their pranks.

"What exactly did they do?" I asked incredulously. She waved her bag again, a few papers trembling threateningly, but they all stayed in her backpack this time.

"I don't want to talk about them anymore. Ugh, those boneheads are such," she paused for a moment as if searching for the right word, "boneheads!" I looked over at Kairi and the moment our eyes met, I couldn't control my laughter and doubled over. From the corner of my eyes I could see Kairi hiding her face behind Selphie's paper, but the crinkle of her eyes betrayed that she too was laughing. This was finally enough to get Selphie to stop stomping towards the beach and turn around, the annoyance on her face melting into a sheepish grin as we continued to laugh at her.

"What's so funny?" A familiar voice asked. The three of us looked up to see Riku and Sora standing at the top of the hill, Sora simply confused, Riku watching us with amusement in his eyes.

"Selphie," Kairi said, quickly regaining her composure. I straightened up and turned towards the boys, mouth split open in a wide grin.

"She was informing us of the definition of 'bonehead'," I explained further. At this Kairi and Selphie both giggled, and the three of us shared knowing looks.

"If you look up the exact definition," Selphie said pointedly, "you'll find pictures of Tidus and Wakka there." The confusion suddenly cleared from Sora's face, he and Riku walking down the path to join us.

"So she's finally realizing how cool we are," I joked, wiggling my eyebrows at her and receiving a playful shove in return.

"Oh yeah," she agreed good-naturedly. "I don't know how I never saw it before." She held her arm against her forehead in mock dismay, her wide green eyes twinkling with mischief. "Therefore," she continued, grabbing Kairi's arm and dragging her over to where Selphie could grab my arm as well, "I think it only natural to continue my training."

At this, Riku gave Kairi, and then me a meaningful look. It was the kind of look the four of us had been sharing ever since we started working on the raft. Kairi rolled her eyes at this—though she seemed willing enough to go along with our plan, she wasn't as enthusiastic about it as the rest of us were. But his look carried the same fervor his voice did whenever we talked about leaving, and it reminded me of the boys that had teased me earlier. Not because he was judging me, or my skirt for that matter, but he expected the both of us to tell Selphie that we couldn't "continue her training".

Selphie looked between the four of us, her smile slowly fading at our silent debate.

"Or not…"

"No," Kairi said decisively, looking Riku in the eye as she said it. "Let's go continue your training," she continued, her tone lighter. "C'mon."

"But guys…" Sora stepped forwards, looking at Kairi and then at Riku. "What about—"

Riku broke in with a sigh. "Don't worry about it, Sora. It'll just have to wait."

At that, Kairi turned, and with the three of us still linked by the arms, pulled us further down the path. Moments later, Riku and Sora's footsteps could be heard behind us, the two starting a loud conversation about their swordfights and debating who would win this time. When the five of us reached the split in the path that would take us either home or to the play island, I pulled Selphie and Kairi to a stop.

"I have to go home and change," I told them, my free hand reaching down to play with the hem of my skirt.

"Alright," Selphie agreed immediately. Kairi, ever perceptive, looked down at my hand and said, "Sure." My eyes darted to Riku who waved at us and said, "We'll catch up with you later."

"See ya," Sora gave us his own little wave and the two of them were on their way to the play island. Halfway to the dock, they broke into a sprint: Another race to see who was better.

Kairi, Selphie, and I retreated down the path that would lead us to my house, and immediately went to my bedroom. I had barely finished putting on my shirt when Kairi sat down on my bed and said, "Natsu, what's going on?"

"With what?"

She gave me a withering look as if I were supposed to know exactly what she was talking about. I had a suspicion about what it was, but I didn't want to admit it. Selphie, for her part, looked extremely confused, not sure whether or not this was part of her "training".

"With your hands." She waved them a little for emphasis. "And your skirt." She briefly mimicked the way I had been picking at my skirt earlier. My cheeks colored a little in embarrassment.

"It's nothing. Just stupid boys at school." I tried to play it off, but she and I both knew that it was a little more than that. She raised an eyebrow at me and cast her gaze out my window. Though the play island where Riku and Sora had gone wasn't visible from my room, it was pretty clear what she was hinting at. The heat continued to rise in my face. I couldn't hide anything from her.

"Ugh. Boys are so dumb," Selphie cut in, crossing her arms and puffing up her cheeks. She sat at my desk, legs crossed even though it pushed her skirt higher up her legs. "They'll make fun of you for the dumbest things. It's not your fault that the school has a dress code that requires this." She lifted up her plaid skirt for a moment and then let it fall back into place. "And then they go around and pull stupid pranks and get themselves detention! For instance, Tidus and Wakka!"

"What did they do, anyways?" I asked, seizing my chance at changing the subject. This was all Selphie needed to really get going. She dove into a story about hairspray and glitter and, inexplicably, socks, and I looked hesitantly at Kairi. She was looking back at me in an appraising sort of way, and I knew that sooner or later, she would get the truth from me. Probably sooner.

But I didn't know how to tell her that I'd had a crush on one of our best friends forever and _that_ was why I'd taken so long to warm up to her.

"And there was just, like, glitter—everywhere," Selphie said, eyes wide and arms gesturing wildly.

"Wait, what?" I had stopped listening to her story halfway through, and her sparkly conclusion left me bewildered.

"Yeah, just," she shook her head, "everywhere. I swear they should have gotten detention for a week, they're lucky the principal likes them so much."

"Right," I said slowly, trying to figure out how all of this fit together. Kairi giggled a little at the both of us, and we laughed with her. It was hard to remember, in that moment, that I had ever hated her.

"Selphie," my mom suddenly called up the stairs, "your mother's here for you!"

The girl immediately put her feet down on the floor and straightened her skirt.

"Coming!" She grabbed her bag off the floor, taking a short moment to stuff her papers safely inside and zip it up. Stopping at the door, she turned and flashed a smile at us. "See ya!"

Kairi and I said our goodbyes and then she was out the door, the sound of her footsteps down the stairs echoing back up to us. I rolled my eyes and got up to shut my door. Selphie had a terrible habit of leaving it open, and I couldn't stand it.

"So," Kairi said as soon as the door had clicked shut. I tensed up, knowing that she was going to steer the conversation back to boys and skirts and I was unable to count on Selphie for a distraction anymore. "It's not _just_ the boys at school, is it?" She asked. I once heard that lawyers never asked a question they didn't know the answer to. In that moment, Kairi would have made a fantastic lawyer.

"I mean, mostly, yeah." I replied, hand darting up to play with my collarbone before I resisted the urge. Riku, Sora, and Kairi all knew that this was my nervous habit.

"Natsu, you know I know you better than that." Yeah, I knew that. Suddenly, irrationally, I wondered if she had a crush on Riku too. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thought. Even if it were true, why should that change our friendship? Her expression softened.

"Do you think I'll tell somebody? Is that it?"

"What? No!" I was horrified at the thought of Kairi thinking I didn't trust her. "No way, Kai, of course that's not it!" Though up until now she had been trying to comfort me, I saw the relief in her expression that my words caused.

"Then what? You know you can tell me anything."

"I know that, I just…" We fell silent as she waited for me to continue and I waited for the right words to adequately describe how I felt. Why was I so hesitant to tell Kairi about my feelings? She would never judge me for them, and she'd probably even have advice to offer me. It wasn't like she had an incredible amount of relationship experience, but she definitely had more than I did.

I looked at my door and then opened it, just a crack to look out into the hall. Then I ran across the room to my window and looked out. Feeling as though I was about to reveal something far more powerful than I actually was, I shut my window and turned back to her.

She was watching me quizzically, but silently, and I appreciated her patience.

I sat down in the recently vacated desk chair and crossed my legs like Selphie had and took a deep breath.

"It's _not_ just the boys at school. I mean, technically, it is, but it's just…" Kairi watched me intently from her perch on my bed. I took another deep breath. Why was this so difficult? "The way they were making fun of me made me wonder…about what _other _people might think."

"Like who? You know that we would never judge you." 'We' meaning Riku, Sora, and Kairi, who were basically the only people that really mattered.

"I know, I know," I reassured her. "But I've always worried…about what Riku thought of me." I said it slowly, the words carrying more weight with them than they deserved, but for the better part of seven years I had never voiced these feelings.

Her eyes went wide and then darted to the door before falling back on me. In one quick instant her face relaxed again and she grinned at me.

"You like Riku," she said for me as if it explained everything. There was excitement in her voice and I felt my whole face turn bright red as I struggled to find a response.

In the end, all I said was, "Yeah."

"Natsu, you should have told me sooner!" She jumped off the bed and dragged me out of my chair. The split second it took for her to drag me back over to my bed was filled with panic, before I realized that she wasn't going to direct me out the door to profess feelings I wasn't ready to have rejected. "Tell me everything," she gushed.

The relief I felt in that moment was palpable, and, with a grin, I started from the beginning and told her everything. Never again, after that day, did I hesitate to tell Kairi anything.

**BANG**

My heartbeat jolted me awake, eyes landing on the object that had woken me. Maleficent's staff rested mere inches from my face. My eyes traveled up the length of it to see that she was gazing at me with a look akin to disgust. Insides squirming uncomfortably, I forced myself to stay where I was: head resting next to Kairi's torso, fingers still wrapped around her hand, even through sleep.

I hoped the image proved to Maleficent that Kairi was my friend, no matter what.

"We're continuing your training," she said, and her tone left no room for argument. She turned, her black cape billowing around her as she left the captain's quarters. Riku was still nowhere to be found, a fact that made me a little uneasy.

With one last look at Kairi, I released her hand, grabbed my staff, and followed after Maleficent.

Once more, she stood on the quarterdeck, although this time there were no Heartless surrounding her. I raised an eyebrow towards her and she silently beckoned me to come up to the quarterdeck. Standing in front of her, it was impossible to see her as the woman Riku and I had once believed would help us unconditionally.

I gasped and jumped back from her, as, with a great gust from his wings her raven landed back on her shoulder. Its yellow eyes seemed to glare at me and I gathered up my courage and glared back.

"You said we were continuing my training," I reminded her petulantly.

"Yes," she said slowly, "we are." Her long fingers wove in a circle around the orb on her staff, and I only noticed because it started to glow brightly green. Gradually, the color began to seep out of our surroundings and I clenched my staff tighter, wondering what she was going to be teaching me.

The deck of the ship disappeared, the stars overhead were extinguished. I began to wonder just how foolish we had been to talk back to her, and just how naïve I was to think that we would be able to take her on ourselves to get Kairi back.

"What are you doing?" My voice came out as little more than a whisper, soaked into the blackness around us.

"The key to your friend's heart lies in the darkness," she said, and the way she said it left me confused as to which friend that she meant.

"But…why?" I asked, straining my eyes to see something, anything in the darkness. It continued on forever and I was beginning to feel it sink into my bones. My friends didn't belong in this any more than I did, and my search for just something in the blackness became a search for the exit.

"My friends aren't part of the darkness," I protested, clenching my staff tightly to my chest, remembering that I at least had a weapon to defend myself with in this place.

The darkness gave no answer.

"And neither am I!" I raised my voice as a shield against the darkness, trying to contain my mounting terror.

"But my dear," Maleficent said from behind me, "of course you are." I whirled around and the witch smiled wickedly at me, as though all my dirty secrets had been laid bare. I shook my head and felt suddenly light headed.

"And soon, you will learn how to use it."

The darkness burst into life around me, hundreds of yellow eyes peering at me from the shadows before lunging towards me from all sides.

"No!" Instinctively, I began to curl in on myself before remembering that I knew magic. I stood tall and held my staff out, trying to master the pounding in my chest.

"Stop!" But the yellow eyes didn't stop, didn't even pause in their single minded assault on me.

"Fire!" The spell shot out into the darkness, illuminating a Heartless with a mouth of sharp teeth before it dissipated, and that one look was enough to send me over the edge.

"Maleficent!" My voice came out in a shriek. I looked around for the witch, but to no avail. She was gone, and had left me at the mercy of this dark place. I curled up, tears forming in my eyes as I mentally apologized to my parents, to Sora, to Riku, and most of all, Kairi.

As I thought of my friends, the world burst into color again, the skies above me burning brightly. The wooden deck of Captain Hook's ship made my eyes water more, and I gasped in relief. I hadn't realized that I had stopped breathing until the moment I started again.

My staff lay a few feet away from me, and Maleficent stood above me, a cold look on her face. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't stop crying, still caught somewhere in that black space. Maleficent turned and began to walk away, but I couldn't let her leave just yet. I wanted to scream at her. I wanted to rage and cry and force her to be sorry, but the display of power she had just shown me had served its purpose.

"Why?" I asked, my voice cracking on the word.

"You will learn to control the darkness," she explained and looked over her shoulder. "Or the darkness will control you." And with that, she turned and left me, huddled on the quarterdeck and more alone than I had been in a long time.


	8. A Whale of a Tale

Chapter 8

Limbs aching and mind reeling from Maleficent's assault, I wandered back to the captain's quarters where I had left Kairi. My friend lay on the only bed in the room, but I was too tired to care where I slept and I had nowhere else to go on the ship. I was also hoping that Riku might be back from wherever he had gone so that we could finally talk. I was sick and tired of dancing around my feelings, sick of feeling like a puppet on Maleficent's strings.

Standing outside the door, I heard voices and paused, terrified that one of them might belong to the woman I wanted to avoid most. After a moment though, it was clear that both of the voices were male. I knocked shortly on the door and then entered. Only to stop immediately inside the threshold as I saw that neither of the men in the room were Riku.

"What the devil are you doing?" Hook was the first to break the silence, standing up sharply from his chair, gaze scrutinizing me.

"I-I'm sorry," I managed to say. My eyes darted around the room, unable to look the pirate in the eye. Once, Riku, Sora, Kairi and I had played at pirates. Riku and Sora would each take turns at being the brave knight, while I was a pirate with whoever wasn't the knight that day. Kairi was always the damsel in distress, calling out to be rescued. Sometimes she was rescued, but other times I held my wooden sword over the fallen knight, calling for him to surrender and walk the plank. At the end of those days, when the knight walked the plank, we would all end up in the ocean, splashing water at each other and swords forgotten. I had never expected that our games would turn out to be true.

"I just thought Riku might be here." Looking around some more, I noticed that not only was Riku not there, but Kairi had been moved as well. The large tomes that Riku had been studying were still scattered haphazardly around the room, some laid open to pages with diagrams of Heartless surrounded by miniscule words on them.

"Pah," the pirate captain said, waving his hook around. He sat back down behind his desk, clearly unconcerned about a teenager wandering around his ship. "I sent him on his way. I'll not have ye usin' my quarters as yer own. Just because you're Maleficent's brats doesn't mean ye have free reign of my ship." His fingers tapped across a large piece of parchment on his desk. Curious, I tried to get a closer look at it, stepping forward and craning my neck a bit. I jumped back as Hook slammed his…hook down on the parchment, putting a hole right through it.

"Understand?" He growled, glaring at me.

"Yes, sir," I mumbled, seeing him nod out of the corner of my eyes as I turned away. Closing the door behind me, I heard the voices resume. I leaned against the door and sighed deeply. Wandering around an angry pirate's vessel was not exactly what I wanted to be doing with my night. My aching limbs protested, but I couldn't fall asleep in a random hallway either. My only option was to try and find Riku, and pray that he wasn't anywhere near Maleficent.

"Oh!" I looked down the hallway, recalling that the lower decks had cabins, probably meant for the crew, but some of them had seemed to be empty when I checked them out. It was as good a place to start as any and as I headed down to the lower desks, I thought about the map Captain Hook had tried to hide from me. Though I hadn't gotten a good look at it, I'd seen enough to know that it was a map, but of what, I couldn't tell. It would have been useful if it was a map of the ship, but I wasn't so lucky.

Instead, I got lost on the lower decks, turned around by cabin after cabin that was identical to the one before it. After a run in with some lecherous pirates that only ended once I cast a pretty threatening—but harmless—lightning spell, I finally found Riku and Kairi in the last cabin I checked.

"There you are." I entered the cabin, closing the door behind me. "I was looking all over, when I went back to the room and I saw you guys weren't there." My eyes were drawn to Kairi again only to find her in the same state she had been in ever since we found her.

"Hook kicked us out." Riku scowled. "When I came back you both were gone. Hook said he wasn't going to 'let a couple of brats and a lifeless shell take over his ship'." He looked up at me and I was surprised to find his eyes narrowed in a glare.

"Where were you?"

"Where was…?" I echoed dumbly.

"Yeah, where? What if they had taken her again? What if we both came back and she was just gone?"

"Hang on—"

"Why did you leave her alone?"

"What?" I shrieked, finally understanding. "Oh no, you can't blame _me_ for this! Riku, I only left in the first place because Maleficent made me."

He shook his head and I felt my face begin to turn red in my anger.

"And second of all," I said, storming over to where he and Kairi were, "she's _fine_. She's—" It only took me a second to realize my mistake. My eyes darted down to where Kairi lay, eyes open and unseeing, eerily still, no heart where there once had been one. She was clearly not "fine".

"FINE?" Riku asked, standing up quickly, his face suddenly inches from mine. "How is this," he pointed towards Kairi and I winced, "_fine_?!"

"She's still here, is what I meant. I know she's not fine..." I mumbled looking away from him.

"But what if she wasn't?" His voice had come down slightly in volume, but I could hear his anger still seething under the surface.

"If she wasn't, we'd find her again!" I threw my hands up. "Besides, she's here. I don't understand why you're so mad."

"We'd find her again?" Riku repeated. "We'd find her again? Natsumi, we weren't even the ones that found her in the first place!" I bristled at his reminder of how indebted to Maleficent we were, the threat she held over our heads.

"The point is, she's here." I rubbed a hand over my face, exhausted. "Eventually, we'll be done here, and we'll be able to go home." I looked down at Kairi, then back up at Riku. "All of us," I insisted.

Riku shook his head again, but our argument was halted as the ship shuddered and jerked around us. I went stumbling into Riku and felt his arms reflexively wrap around me as we fell into the wall together. The shuddering stopped as quick as it started. As soon as the ship had fallen still around us, Riku's arms loosened again.

"Kairi!" He rushed around me to where she still lay on the bed, a little jostled, but otherwise okay.

"Yeah, I'm alright, thanks for asking," I grumbled, shooting him a look as he repositioned Kairi. "We should go check that out." I stood by the door and waited impatiently for Riku to leave Kairi on the bed. Finally he decided she was settled and we left the cabin. We were just about to step out onto the deck when the boat shook again.

"FIRE!" Hook's voice rang out through the night and this time a small tremor ran through the wood planks as the cannons went off. Riku and I exchanged a look before running out onto the deck and into the night.

"What's going on?" Riku asked, trying to make sense of what we were seeing. My eyes widened as I saw what Hook had been firing at. The tail of a giant whale was swimming—flying, through space, propelling the beast as it wheeled around and prepared to charge once more.

"What is that?" I heard Riku yell his question from across the deck, but had no way to answer him. I couldn't take my eyes off of the giant whale, I was unable to form a coherent thought.

"Your next stop."

Maleficent's voice snapped me out of my daze and I whirled around to face her.

"_That's_ our next stop?" I completely forgot about my earlier aversion to the witch, faced with this new obstacle. "Why?"

"Inside that whale, there is a puppet," Maleficent began, seeming completely unperturbed by the chaos around her.

"FIRE!" The ship shuddered again and I brought my hands up to cover my ears a moment too late to protect them from the noise.

"Who cares about a puppet?" Riku rocked back and forth on his feet to keep his balance as the giant whale shot over our heads.

"You should," Maleficent said, looking down from the sky. "For that puppet may hold the key to recovering your friend's heart." Riku and I exchanged a look—we'd both heard that line before.

"How?"

"The puppet within that whale is no ordinary puppet. This puppet is in possession of…a heart."

"And how does that help Kairi?"

"FI—"

"Enough, you imbecile!" Maleficent turned on Hook, the disdain in her eyes causing him to stop midsentence. For a moment the ship was quiet and still. Then the breath was knocked out of me as I fell against the railing of the ship, the whale's tail passing underneath the ship. "You must make haste," the witch told us. "Lest the whale, and puppet, be lost."

"But _how does the puppet help Kairi_?" I wasn't about to let her send us off again to kidnap somebody else on the pretense of saving Kairi. She looked at me scathingly and I felt my breath stop again and the stars in the sky suddenly seemed dimmer.

"It's quite an anomaly, is it not? For a puppet to have a heart? Such a…unique situation could very well uncover the secret to your friend's missing heart." She turned her gaze to Riku and I knew before he spoke what his answer would be.

"How do we get to this puppet?"

Maleficent turned to Hook. "Captain?" Her tone was mocking, but the pirate only nodded.

"Smee! Prepare to drop anchor!"

"Aye aye, captain!" The portly man hurried to do as his captain bid. The whale banked around again, black eye staring at us menacingly.

"Steady…"

The giant tail drifted slowly up and down, as though the whale was mustering up the strength for an attack that would decimate the ship we were on, a ship that now seemed tiny.

"Steady…"

It felt like I had been dropped in the eye of a storm, everything around us deceptively calm.

"Steady…"

Hook's voice grated on my nerves, my knuckles were white around the wood of the ship's railing. Riku stood next to me, waiting with bated breath, eyes fevered. I looked over my shoulder at Maleficent standing impassively behind us, and swallowed thickly.

Without warning, the whale charged, letting out a high pitched roar. I wanted to turn and look at Hook, wondering how close he was going to let the whale get before giving the command, but I couldn't tear my eyes from the monstrosity bearing down on us. My heart beat wildly in my chest as the whale got close enough for me to see its individual teeth and the small red wounds inflicted on it by the cannons.

"Now, Smee!" Suddenly, the ship jolted to the side, tipping precariously. The sound of a chain unraveling rang out through the air as I clung to the railing for dear life, the whale's indignant cry echoing in my unprotected ears. In the next instant, the sound of the chain stopped, and the ship jolted again, finally making me lose my grip on the railing. I tumbled head over heels across the deck, stomach in my throat. Through the jumbled mess, I saw Maleficent, still on her feet, retreating through a dark portal. The railing on the opposite side of the ship loomed closer and closer and I knew that I would have to somehow grab onto it, or get sent flying out into space with no vessel.

I reached out, fingers grasping at the railing…

And missing.

I fell through the air, finally finding my voice. My scream sounded muffled to my ears, and I realized with horror that I was falling straight towards the whale.

"Natsumi!"

I closed my eyes, but not before seeing the whale opening its mouth, ready to swallow me up. This couldn't possibly have been what Maleficent meant when she said the puppet was inside the whale. Was this how my journey ended?

I slammed into a hard surface and then everything went black.

The sound of waves gently crashing next to my head woke me. _That's strange… I don't remember falling asleep on the beach…_

"Hmm…" I murmured sleepily. Oh well, it couldn't hurt to get a little bit more sleep. I was so tired lately. Once I slept a little bit more I could get up and help with the raft.

"Natsumi." A hand grabbed hold of my shoulder and shook lightly.

"Rikuu, 'm sleepy," I complained, batting his hand away. He sighed, and then I felt his hands on both my shoulders.

"Natsumi, you have to wake up." His hands tightened around my shoulders, and the dull throbbing that resulted from that gesture caused the memories to come flooding back. I jolted upright, the action stopped abruptly by something above me.

"Ow…" I moaned lowly, hands pressed against my forehead. I looked up, only to find Riku in the same position. "Sorry… Where are we?" I looked around, noticing the bits of wood spread about me, and floating in the water next to me. The ground underneath me was a dark pink color and, upon closer inspection, slightly squishy.

"Oh god," I looked back up at Riku.

"We're inside the whale."

"Seriously?! Maleficent couldn't have come up with a better way to get the puppet?"

"Guess not."

"Ugh. Then that means…this is…" I looked down at the ground again.

"Yeah," Riku confirmed.

"Eww." I stood up slowly and Riku followed.

"C'mon, the sooner we find this puppet, the sooner we get out of here."

"What have you got there, Pinocchio?" The voice came from above us, and was quickly joined by a second voice.

"With this, we can get out of here, Father." Riku and I looked at each other.

"Did Maleficent tell you the name of this puppet we're looking for?" I asked.

He shook his head, "There was no time. What are the odds that it _isn't_ one of those voices though?"

"Slim to none," I said wryly. After all, who else would be in the mouth of a giant whale?

"It's true. So how did you end up here Pinocchio?" An all too familiar voice joined the pair on the ship. Well I guess that answers my question. I looked at Riku with wide eyes. The silver haired boy was looking up at the ship with a scowl on his face.

"We'll never get that puppet to Kairi with Sora in the way."

"So maybe we need a distraction." This caught his attention.

"What kind of distraction?"

I took a deep breath. "This kind." And with that I began climbing up the side of the ship, ignoring the look of disapproval Riku gave me as I focused on finding good foot and handholds in the rotting wood. I stopped at the railing, shaking my head to rid myself of the déjà vu I felt to be once more clinging to a ship's railing, and took in the scene before me.

Sora was there, along with the two companions he was traveling with…and two others. One was an old man, hair and mustache pure white, and the other a small puppet, moving around restlessly, though he was attached to no strings.

Bingo.

I looked down at Riku and nodded. He nodded in acknowledgement and then took off towards the back of the whale's throat. Whatever plan he had to get the puppet, I had to distract them long enough that they wouldn't notice he was gone.

I pulled myself over the railing and stepped out into the light.

"Sora?" I called, trying to make myself sound surprised. The boy turned, a questioning look on his face before his eyes widened.

"Natsumi!" He rushed towards me, and I found myself truly surprised at how easy the smile came to my face when I was suddenly engulfed by a hug from him.

"H-hey, what's this about?" I chuckled, allowing the hug to last a few more seconds before gently prying him away.

"The last time I saw you, in Agrabah," my stomach dissolved into butterflies. Had he seen Riku and me leave with Jasmine? Did he know we were working with Maleficent? Was my distraction a stupid mistake? "You jumped in the way of Jafar's attack!" The breath left me in a rush.

"Oh, yeah, I did." I grinned at him, only to receive a light punch on the arm. "Hey!"

"There was all this smoke, and then you were gone!"

"Hehe, sorry, Sora. I didn't mean to worry you. I'm fine, as you can see." I held my arms out to the side to demonstrate how fine I was. He shook his head.

"Yeah, I guess," he agreed, but I saw him trying to subtly check to make sure I wasn't hiding any injuries.

"So you guys are still traveling together?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, we are," the duck said.

"We've been savin' worlds from the Heartless," the dog said proudly.

"Goofy!" The duck turned on him, whacking him on the knee with his magic staff.

"Yow!" The dog, Goofy, held his knee in pain, hopping around on one foot.

"We have to protect the world order," the duck stage whispered, eyes narrowed as he looked over at me. I held up my hands defensively.

"Hey, no need to protect anything from me. I know all about it already."

"Uh huh," the duck grumbled, seeming more unhappy about that fact than the possibility of Goofy letting the secrets of the worlds slip.

"Oh yeah!" Sora exclaimed suddenly. "You guys haven't been introduced yet right?"

"Uh…"

"Gee, I don't think so," Goofy said, now standing on both feet and smiling at me. "Name's Goofy, a'hyuck, and this is Donald. Nice to meet ya, miss, er…"

"Natsumi," I filled in for him, arms crossed uncomfortably. This distraction was quickly getting out of hand. I was tempted to look and see if Riku had gotten Pinocchio yet, but with the way Donald was watching me, I didn't dare. I shifted anxiously under his suspicious glare.

"Goodness, it seems my Pinocchio has made some wonderful friends." We all turned towards the old man. So Pinocchio was the name of the puppet at this old man's side. I tried to keep the annoyance from my face that Riku hadn't managed to grab him yet. "My name is Geppetto. I'm Pinocchio's father. When we got separated, I traveled all over, looking for him. Thank goodness we're together again. Were you swallowed by the whale as well, miss?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," I said, dismayed to find the attention once again on me. "It was…terrifying, to say the least," I mumbled, remembering the whale's teeth flying past my eyes and then everything going black.

"Oh my, that's terrible. But it looks as though you are among friends at least." He smiled kindly and I tried to smile back at him.

"Yeah, thank goodness…"

"So, you seem to know Pinocchio quite well," he continued addressing the boys. "I hope he was a good boy in my absence. Well, we've all had quite a journey. Right, Pinocchio?" For a moment there was simply silence, and then, questioningly, "Pinocchio?" I looked down and felt relieved. The puppet was gone. Riku must have succeeded.

"Oh no!" Geppetto stood up in a rush, whirling around to take in the puppetless ship. "Pinocchio?"

"He's gone!" Sora exclaimed, turning in his own circle.

"Pinocchio!" Geppetto's voice echoed through the whale's mouth.

"Gee, where could he have gone?" Goofy asked, bringing a finger up to his temple, a worried look on his face.

"My boy, he's missing again!" Geppetto sat heavily on the crate behind him and put his head in his hands. The trio converged around him, and finally, there was no attention on me. I backed away, slowly finding my way to the edge of the ship. I hoisted myself up over the edge, carefully watching them. If I was caught leaving, it would ruin everything. Geppetto's face was still in his hands, Sora, Donald, and Goofy focused on comforting him.

"Don't worry," Donald said, reaching up his feathered hand to pat Geppetto's shoulder.

"Yeah, we'll find him," Goofy assured the old man. I could hear the smile in his voice. Using their conversation as a cover, I let go of the railing and landed with a quiet squish noise on the ground next to the ship. Now sure that I was out of sight, I took off running towards the tunnel—I refused to think of where it was I was really heading—I had seen Riku enter.

"The four of us will go looking, right Natsumi?" I heard Sora's voice ask, but they wouldn't find me there. Pushing myself harder, I entered the tunnel, Sora's cry of "Natsumi?" following me into the darkness.


	9. A Heinous Act

Chapter 9

The bowels of the whale were a ridiculous maze, and I was beginning to worry that Sora would find Riku and Pinocchio before I could, when I heard Pinocchio's voice echoing through the tunnels.

"When are they gonna come find us?"

"Soon, but we can't make it easy for them, right? That wouldn't be a very fun game."

"I'll say!" Pinocchio sounded cheerful, following Riku around under the guise of playing a game. Well, they were doing a pretty good job hiding so far.

"Riku," I called out to them, catching their attention before they entered the next chamber.

"There you are. Nice distraction," Riku said, and although his words were complimentary, his voice was frosty.

"Thanks?" I raised an eyebrow at him in confusion. "Good job getting Pinocchio," I returned. He simply shrugged at my words. "So…did Maleficent tell you how we're supposed to get out of here?"

"How should I know? She told us the same things," he snapped.

"Okay…well, any ideas?" I rubbed the back of my head, unsure of where his sudden attitude had come from. Was he upset about the argument we had on the ship? Thinking about it made me frown, but I couldn't say that I was still mad about it exactly. More like sad that it had come to the point where we argued like that.

"No idea," he said, turning away from me. Pinocchio looked back and forth between us. I sighed. He probably _was_ still upset about our argument on the ship.

"Look, Riku, I'm sorry about what happened on the ship. I know you're worried about Kairi, I am too—"

"Oh really?" He whirled around on me, and the anger on his face gave me pause. "Because you sure could have fooled me. You think she's _fine_." My mouth gaped open at how unfair this statement was.

"I _don't_ think she's fine!" I protested. "It was a bad choice of words, I know, but trust me, Riku, I understand just how not fine she is, and I want to make sure she gets her heart back, same as you!"

"Same as me?" He laughed shortly, and the sound of it was cruel against my eardrums. "Then why did it take you so long to distract those guys for me to grab the puppet? It sure looked like you were enjoying being with _them_." He spat the word them with such vehemence that it left me speechless. I opened and closed my mouth several times before shaking my head and walking past him.

"Come on, Pinocchio."

"Why're you guys fighting?" The puppet's brow was furrowed, a sad frown on his face.

"It doesn't matter. Don't you want to keep playing our game?" Riku followed my lead, but didn't look at me.

"Pinocchio!" This new voice echoed through the chamber, causing Pinocchio to pause and then, before we could stop him, he ran towards the voice, leaving Riku and I just around the corner from the center of the chamber.

"Jiminy?" The puppet asked.

"What are you doing? Come on, let's go back," Sora said, voice equal parts relieved and exasperated.

"You know, Geppetto's awfully worried about you," Goofy said kindly. For a moment there was silence. It seemed as though the puppet was reluctant to do as they say and abandon our game.

"Pinocchio, stop fooling around! This is no time for games."

"We can't let them take that puppet back," Riku said under his breath. He marched forward, out of our hiding place and called out to Sora.

"But Sora, I thought you liked games. Or are you too cool to play them now that you have the Keyblade?" There was no trace of the animosity that had been in his voice when we were arguing.

"Riku!" Sora's eyes turned to me as I walked up next to Riku. "Natsumi?" His voice sounded confused and hurt. "Why didn't you tell me Riku was here?" Feigning nonchalance, I shrugged at him.

"It didn't come up." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Riku look at me, but I ignored him. Sora frowned at us, seeming conflicted. Donald and Goofy shared a look behind him, one that clearly expressed they were uneasy about these two people Sora called his friends.

"What are you guys doing here?" His voice was low, but it never wavered.

"Just playing with Pinocchio," Riku said with a smirk.

"You know what I mean," Sora snapped. "What about Kairi? Did you find her?" When he spoke of Kairi, his face softened and he clenched his fists. I felt a stab of anger course through me. Suddenly I felt invisible, and I clenched my own fists.

"Maybe," Riku said coolly, as though he didn't have a care in the world. "Catch us, and maybe I'll tell you what I know."

"Come on!" Sora complained, but Riku ignored him, instead grabbing Pinocchio's arm and running off into the tunnels.

"Don't worry about Kairi," I told Sora, spitting the sentence out. "We've got it under control."

"Wait!"

But I turned away from him and followed Riku into the bowels of the whale. It didn't take long to catch up with him and when I did, I discovered that Pinocchio wasn't his only companion. He was speaking to none other than Maleficent. I shouldn't have been surprised to see her standing there, but I was.

"Beware the darkness in your heart. The Heartless prey upon it." Maleficent walked away from him, back towards me. Though I couldn't see her face, it wasn't hard to imagine her amused smirk as Riku barked, "Mind your own business!" The only response he got was the portal of darkness swirling and disappearing behind her.

When I stepped out towards Riku, his annoyed look turned on me.

"Where have you been?"

"Following you. Is she just going to leave us here?" I nodded my head towards where Maleficent had disappeared.

"We could have gone with her just now, if I hadn't had to wait for you."

"Oh, well I'm sorry to keep you waiting," I snapped, still angry from our run in with Sora and our argument earlier.

"Riku! Natsumi!" Speak of the devil. "What's the matter with you? What are you thinking? Don't you realize what you're doing?" His voice was getting on my last nerve.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Sora." I rolled my eyes at Riku's attitude, playing it cool around Sora like he was doing absolutely nothing wrong. "You only seem interested in running around and showing off that Keyblade these days. Do you even want to save Kairi?"

"Whatever," I muttered under my breath, looking towards Pinocchio. The puppet was looking at all of us in confusion.

"Is this still part of the game?" He asked me quietly. I stared at him for a moment before grabbing his arm.

"Yes, and we're winning," I told him, walking off and leaving Riku and Sora to their confrontation. We walked in silence for only a short while before Pinocchio felt the need to talk again.

"Are those guys your friends?" I faltered for a minute and carefully avoided looking at the puppet.

"They're my best friends," I whispered, unsure if that was the truth anymore.

"It seems like you guys are fighting," he commented innocently. I could feel his stare on me and I looked down at him.

"We…are," I admitted to him. Saying it out loud made my stomach clench. Maybe that was why it was so easy to smile at Sora earlier. Because I still didn't want to believe that the three of us were fighting like this.

"Don't worry," Pinocchio said cheerfully, giving my hand a light squeeze. "Once we're done playing our game, I'm sure you guys will be able to make up." My eyes widened in surprise. The puppet was offering me comfort? Maybe his heart really was the key to waking Kairi up. It seemed kind enough, and honest enough. We reached a dead end and stopped walking, while I continued to turn over in my mind what this could mean. Looking into the puppet's eyes, I realized that I couldn't let Riku bring him back with us.

"Pinocchio…"

The puppet's scream cut me off. He released my hand and pointed behind me in a panic. I whipped around to see that he was pointing towards where a Heartless shaped like a cage had just appeared. Its tentacles lashed out at us and I stood up and reached behind me. My hand wrapped around what I had been searching for and lifted it up, throwing it towards the Heartless. Pinocchio screamed again as the tentacles caught him…and thrust him into its cage-like mouth.

I brought my hand up to my mouth, muffling my own scream, eyes shut tight against what I had just done.

"This way, my child," a soothing voice called. I looked up, and there in front of me was a dark portal. Everything in me was telling me to rush forwards, to leave this place and not look back, but I couldn't get my feet to move. Pinocchio's voice cried out for help, shrill in his fear. "Make haste, child!"

"It came from this way!" Sora's voice echoed up the tunnel and my eyes widened in fear. I couldn't let them find me here! I ran forward and through the portal, tears pricking at my eyes. The sound of the portal closing behind me pressed against my whole body, forcing the tears out, forcing me to my knees. I stopped there, stuck in that in between world, breath coming in shallow bursts, wails leaving my mouth of their own volition and echoing back at me through the darkness until there were hundreds of me lamenting the evil thing I had just done.

"There, there," a hand fell gently against my back, and though I now knew the voice and the hand to be Maleficent's, I couldn't make myself move. I knelt there in darkness with her hand on my back, shoulders heaving until my tears ran dry and my throat ached.

"Wh-why?" I looked up at her, and though I knew the sympathy on her face was false, it nearly set me to tears again. "Wh-why did I… do…that? I d-don't…understand." I barely remembered the action of grabbing the puppet's arm, and I couldn't remember at all what had made me decide to do it in the first place. The only thought that had been clear was that I couldn't let Riku take Pinocchio back to Maleficent.

"I-I c-couldn't let Riku take him…"

"And why was that, my dear?"

"B-because," I sniffled, "that puppet's heart, it was kind, and good, and—"

"Oh, you poor child," Maleficent cut me off. "Do you truly believe such a heinous action was born of a selfless desire?"

I stopped, sniffles and all, still looking at her face, involuntarily taking solace in the understanding I found there.

"If you had wanted to protect the puppet, why did you throw it to the Heartless? It could just as easily lose its _kind_, _good_ heart there." Her words were mocking, sharp daggers poking holes in my explanation. There was no way to exonerate myself from this. She was going to force me to the truth, and with every thin excuse I laid out, I felt that truth looming closer and closer. She knelt down so that her face was closer to my level. "Why did you throw it to the Heartless, my dear, sweet girl?" Her words pierced my heart, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn't look away from her black eyes.

"I couldn't let Riku take him."

"Because…" Maleficent baited me.

"Because of what he would use it for…"

"And for what purpose was that, my dear?" She removed her hand from my back to wrap her fingers around my chin. It was a pointless gesture, she had me and she knew it.

"To-to get Kairi's heart back." And there it was, a truth more awful than the fact that I threw Pinocchio to the mercy of the Heartless, more despicable than Riku being willing to kidnap in order to save our best friend: I had personally sabotaged our best chance at getting Kairi's heart back.

"That's right, child." Her fingers released my chin and one red nail came to rest above my heart. "That is the darkness within your heart, and that is what will consume you, if you let it." Tears sprang to my eyes again, my heart thumped beneath her fingernail. I felt something pooling beneath that fingernail, as though all of the darkness within me was being summoned to the surface. I remembered that night on the quarterdeck—was it only yesterday?—and the warning she had left me with. I could no longer deny that there was darkness in my heart, much as I longed to. Maleficent had been able to see it, and I now knew that it had been there all along, festering and growing, because I let it.

Looking up at her, I sniffled one more time, swallowed thickly, and wiped the tears from my eyes. I made sure my voice was steady when I said:

"Help me."

"Help you?" Her voice ended the sentence with an amused question mark. I reached up and pushed Maleficent's finger away to place my hand against my heart. It beat steadily underneath my hand, calm in my new realization.

"Help me control my darkness."

Her lips split into a wide smile and the green orb at the top of her staff began to glow brightly. Soon, it was bright enough that I had to close my eyes against it and couldn't see Maleficent in front of me, but her voice still echoed around me.

"With pleasure…"

When the green light faded, I found myself once again in the whale's mouth, standing behind Riku as he faced down Sora again.

"Not many puppets have hearts. I'm not sure, but maybe he can help someone who's lost theirs."

Sora's voice rang out clearly from somewhere below us, "Wait a minute. Are you talking about Kairi?" I reached up to my heart as the familiar stab of anger flared through it, but a moment later, it was soothed. Maleficent's power, already helping me. I crossed my arms over my chest, and tried to put the feeling from my mind.

"What do you care about her?" Riku turned around, puppet under his arm. His eyes widened when he saw me, but he continued walking away, unwilling to lose his cool in front of Sora.

"Where did you disappear to?" He asked in irritation. "I thought you were taking care of Pinocchio, and instead, he ended up inside a Heartless, and you were nowhere to be found."

"I was tired of playing his game." I looked down at the puppet, unconscious under Riku's arm. Riku scoffed.

"What's gotten into you?" The way he asked it reminded me of the way Sora had asked Riku what was wrong with him.

"I didn't realize I was talking to Sora," I said mockingly. I watched his jaw clench, but continued before he could speak. "You have the puppet. Now all we need to do is get back to Maleficent, and you can save Kairi."

"It may not be that easy. This puppet lost his heart to that Heartless."

"Oh." That was all I could say as the guilt assaulted me. We continued to walk in silence through the colorful and oddly pulsating bowels of the whale until we once again found ourselves in the whale's stomach. Riku set the puppet down against the wall and took a few steps away. I stared at the puppet, but all I could see was Kairi, slumped against the wall with no heart and no hope of getting it back. I had single-handedly doomed them both.

"Riku—"

"Don't say anything," Riku said quietly. "This was another dead end."

"Hey, let Pinocchio go." He didn't shout, but Sora's voice had a ring of authority to it, as though he expected us to listen. We both turned towards him, but neither of us made any move to return the puppet.

"A puppet that's lost its heart to the Heartless… Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi. How about it, Sora? Let's join forces to save her. We can do it, together."

Sora's only response was to summon his Keyblade, and fall into a fighting stance. I didn't have enough energy left to be surprised at this. It only made sense. Riku and I worked with Maleficent, doing unspeakable things to save Kairi…and Sora paraded around with his Keyblade, helping everybody but us. I crossed my arms, a smirk finding its way onto my face. The puppet was wrong. This fight went too deep to forgive.

"What? You'd rather fight me?" Riku asked, his tone one of mock surprise. "Over a puppet that has no heart?"

"Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience," Sora said defiantly.

I snorted, "Conscience?" though I remembered the puppet's surety that my friends and I would be together again, and my own conscience reared its ugly head. Sora looked away from Riku for a brief moment, his blue eyes flashing with hurt. Only a few hours earlier we were having a happy reunion. Now Donald knew that his careful watching of me on the boat had not been a mistake.

"You might not hear it," Sora started, voice gaining strength as he continued, "but right now it's loud and clear. And it's telling me you're on the wrong side!"

"Then you leave me no choice." Riku summoned his own blade and fell into his own battle stance. My heart leaped up into my throat and I had to focus hard to keep my voice steady.

"Riku," I started, hoping I sounded bored with the whole situation. The boys didn't turn to look at me, but they weren't attacking each other yet, so I took that as a good sign. "Our business is done here." The two of them looked at me out of the corner of their eyes, both questioning what I meant. "We're supposed to return to the ship. Fun and games with the heartless puppet is over."

"Natsumi," Sora said, forcing me to look at him. It was easier than I thought to keep my face impassive as he stared at me with a deep sorrow in his eyes.

Before he could say anything else, the ground rumbled beneath our feet and the same Heartless from before burst out of the whale's stomach acid.

"Natsumi, come on," Riku called. I looked over at him to find him standing in front of a newly formed dark portal. I rushed over to him and through the portal, his footsteps behind me, and we left Sora to fight the Heartless with his new friends.

The portal opened up again in the cabin of Hook's ship, lit warmly with lanterns. The ship was still, no sign that only a night earlier it had been locked in a strange battle with a giant space whale. Maleficent stood in front of us, and behind her, Kairi lay on the window seat. Riku pushed past the witch, immediately drawn to the lifeless Kairi.

"Going after the puppet was pointless," Riku said bitterly, staring down at our friend. "When are you going to stop jerking us around?"

"Jerking you around?" Maleficent's eyes were wide, as though she were mortally offended by this statement. "My dear boy, I have been working tirelessly to help you." There was a long pause as Riku seemed to be thinking something over. Maleficent and I waited silently, while I tried to look anywhere but at the two by the window.

"So Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?" Riku asked, needing Maleficent to reaffirm what hadn't been said out loud until now.

"Precisely."

"And her heart was…" The catch in his voice forced my eyes upward and I took an involuntary step forward, almost reaching out for him. The only thing that stopped me was Maleficent's hand, halting my path. I looked up at her and she shook her head slightly before turning her attention back to Riku.

"Taken by the Heartless, no doubt."

Riku whirled around, the earnestness on his face and in his voice sending my heart up into my throat. "Tell me! What can I do?" It was the question she had been waiting for him to ask. I held my hands over my heart, waiting with bated breath for her answer.

"There are seven maidens of the purest heart. We call them the princesses of heart. Gather them together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. There you will surely find a way to recover Kairi's heart." Princesses of heart? I furrowed my brow in confusion, turning over this new information in my mind. It sounded like a fairytale, but the more I thought about the other things Riku and I had seen so far on our journey, this statement seemed entirely reasonable in comparison.

"Now," she said, snapping me out of my thoughts, "I'll grant you a marvelous gift. The power to control the Heartless." My eyes widened and for the first time since we arrived back on Hook's ship, Riku's attention turned to me. A questioning look crossed his features as I tried to fight down my trepidation. After all, who was I to judge if Riku accepted this gift, when I had accepted my own gift from Maleficent back in Monstro?

I gave him a small nod, hoping that I conveyed that I understood it was his decision to make. He looked back up at Maleficent and held his arms out at his sides to accept her gift. A green light engulfed him, the same color that had surrounded me. It swirled around him, settling on his skin, and then gathering above his heart before fading away.

The smile on his face made my stomach twist as he turned away and said, "Soon, Kairi. Soon."


	10. A Brush With Darkness

**A/N:** Hey guys, sorry it's been such a long time. In the past year I have gone through some major life changes, I moved from Michigan to Georgia to California and back to Michigan and plenty of stuff happened in between. Back in Michigan I have a new full time job and of course there's the phenomenon of Pokemon Go being released. Besides all of that, when I did have time to write, I had some pretty bad writer's block. This chapter (a full length chapter, I am not just posting an author's note) has taken me just about a year to finally get down in Word. However, I will say that during this time my writing has changed and evolved to something better. Looking at earlier chapters of this fic is a pretty difficult thing for me to do, and I want to thank each and every one of you for taking a look at it and even favoriting or subscribing to this fic. That being said, I am excited to be reaching the conclusion of this fic, as the end is something I have had planned from the very beginning, it's just the middle bits that are being difficult. I can't promise updates will come quickly, but I can promise they will come. There's no reason for me to abandon something that has a concrete finish, and in sight at last! Now, at long last I give you chapter ten, so thanks for sticking with me this long!

Chapter 10

Following Maleficent's guidance, Riku and I found ourselves on our sixth new world, standing in front of a castle that rivaled Hollow Bastion's in darkness. Around us were trees, black and leafless. Beyond the high iron gate and stone walls that blocked our progress, a long bridge extended into the darkness, the gray rocks covered in moss. The bridge rested over an enormous gorge, fog covering the bottom from view, but if the length of the bridge was any indication, it was extremely deep.

Between my fingers, the iron was ice cold, and a chill that had less to do with the weather and more to do with ominous appearance of the castle and its grounds permeated the air. The castle itself towered above us, the higher floors sticking up out of the fog, while the lower floors were obscured. The different turrets seemed to challenge each other for height, until one rose out of the gloom, breaking away from the rest. I had to crane my neck and lean back slightly in order to see all the way to the top.

"Wow," I breathed, mesmerized by the sight, awed and intimidated. Riku, however, was significantly less impressed."You do know we kind of live in a castle right now, right? And that we've been traveling in space on a pirate ship?" I paused, fingers loosening around the bar of the gate.

"Well, when you put it like that…" I said, turning towards him.

"But I think this castle is even bigger than the one in Hollow Bastion."

"And twice as rundown," he added, tapping his knuckles against the gate. The metal rang out dully, the sound swallowed in the gloom before we could worry about anybody hearing it. Riku was right, the castle was rundown. Shingles had come free from the roof, leaving dark holes that we could see, even as far away as we were. Ivy creeped up the walls of the castle, climbing impossibly high and sporting bulbs for flowers that looked like they were long dead.

"What would a princess be doing here," I asked, genuinely curious. It was hardly the lap of luxury, and I thought it was pretty safe to assume the inside looked just as dilapidated as the outside.

"This is where Maleficent said she would be," Riku replied, giving an experimental tug on the gate. Though we could see clearly where they divided in the center, the metal didn't budge in the slightest.

"Alright then, so all we have to do is find some way to get around this gate." I looked to the left and then the right. The stone wall continued as far as I could see, which admittedly with the fog was not very far. There was also no guarantee that if we found a way around we'd be able to get past the gorge.

"Natsumi, you're thinking about this too hard." Riku had a small smirk on his face as he watched me, waiting for me to understand. That small smirk made my heart flutter and I stared at him confused until…

"Oh!" I looked down at my hand, remembering the training Maleficent had been putting us through every day on Hook's ship, until she finally deemed us ready. "That's right," I said, returning a small smile to him.

"Ready to try this?" I felt a thrill race through my veins at his question."Yeah." He held up his hand towards the gate and I echoed the motion.

"Just on the other side of the gate?"

"Just on the other side of the gate," he agreed. I nodded at him and closed my eyes, breathing slowly and focusing on summoning the power of darkness to create a corridor for us to travel through. I pictured the way the portal would open and swirl in front us, letting us out just on the other side of the wall, that much closer to the princess that would help get Kairi's heart back. My concentration wavered, and I felt the darkness we were controlling waver in response.

"Focus," Riku reminded me.

"Right," I said, pushing the thought of Kairi from my mind. A moment later, I felt the portal form in front of us and opened my eyes to see that we had succeeded. Riku and I looked at each other, sharing a look of triumph. I couldn't say that things were quite back to normal with us, but they weren't as strained anymore either, ever since Maleficent told us about the princesses of heart.

"Let's go," Riku said, and we stepped through the portal together. It deposited us quickly on the other side of the gate and then vanished, leaving no trace that it had ever been there. We made our way across the bridge, and I edged a little bit closer to Riku, a feeling of unease growing the closer we got to the castle. I looked away from the castle that loomed over us and my gaze was drawn to the gorge that extended beneath the bridge. My assumption that it was extremely deep was a complete understatement. In areas where the fog wasn't as thick, I could see that the chasm was miles deep, disappearing into blackness so that I couldn't see if there was actually an end to it. Nervously, I stepped even closer to Riku, our arms brushing against each other. He looked down at me, an eyebrow raised.

"Don't look down," I advised, but I didn't step away from him until we had finally reached solid ground at the other end of the bridge. The giant doors that loomed in front of us were surprisingly unlocked, and we pushed them open. We both flinched as the creaking of the doors echoed through the entryway, where we froze, listening to see if we had disturbed the inhabitants of the castle. The entryway was empty, and it seemed that we had gotten lucky, and nobody was close enough to hear the sound.

Despite that, we stepped forward cautiously, examining our surroundings thoroughly. There were two rooms off to either side of us, large wooden doors shut firmly against us. Gargoyles were stationed on each of the four pillars that reached up to the ceiling, fingers curved and long nails dug into their perches. The creatures seemed to stare at us accusatorially, almost demanding that we leave their master's home. We stood on a long red carpet, trailing off across the entryway and up the stairs before branching off up on two more staircases to the right and left. At the top of the main stairs, there was a large set of double doors, so beautiful I could only imagine the splendor of the room behind them. With so many doors already facing us, and only just having stepped into the foyer, discouragement fell like a heavy weight upon me. Looking over, I could see my own disappointment reflected on Riku's face.

I took a deep breath, catching his attention, and then grinned broadly at him.

"What do you think's behind door number one?"

Without waiting for a response, I started walking towards one of the doors to our right. My first few footsteps echoed loudly in the foyer as soon as I stepped off of the carpet. I grimaced a bit and adjusted my stride. Riku made no noise behind me, and I wondered if he was following, or if he had stayed behind.

The closer I got to the doorway, the clearer the gargoyles nestled in the alcoves became. The one closest to me was in a crouching position, legs and arms pulled tightly to its body, as though deliberating whether or not to pounce on us intruders. Its face was twisted into a snarl, lips drawn back and teeth bared menacingly. I hesitated for a moment then shook my head and steeled myself to continue walking forwards, though I couldn't help but try to put some distance between myself and the gargoyle in the process. The door that I approached was as heavy as it looked, the wood solid and smooth. It took me a few moments to push the door open and when it finally gave way and swung inward I stepped back, only to realize that I had only opened the door with Riku's help.

"Thanks," I said sheepishly.

"No problem," was Riku's quiet response. We turned back towards the room, dimly lit by the candelabras positioned behind us in the foyer but otherwise shrouded in darkness. Our shadows tried and failed to extend before us, they were swallowed up into the room's own shadows and disappeared. I squinted my eyes to try to see what lay within, only to come up with nothing except a single vague shape in the very back. There was clearly no princess here.

Riku and I silently pulled the door shut again. Before it nestled back into its door frame I thought I saw a small shadow twitch within the darkness, but as soon as I saw it, it was gone. If there was a Heartless here, it wasn't interested in us. The door shut, the noise echoing dully in the foyer. We paused, listening to see if anybody had heard. When nobody appeared, we continued with our search of the lower levels. The next two doors yielded the same results, the second one filled with more vague shapes set on top of a table against the wall. As we shut that door, I could swear I heard whispers, but when I whirled around to investigate further, nobody was there. This place is starting to seem abandoned...

The third room was substantially smaller than the first two, little more than a storage closet. A feather duster lay haphazardly against the wall, everything else neatly organized behind it. We left that room quickly.

Our fourth and final venture yielded the only room that seemed as though it might be fit for people to inhabit. A deep red carpet covered the three steps and continued into the room, matching an armchair that stood off center on chestnut legs. The heat from the fire that crackled in the hearth easily reached us, warming my skin from a chill I hadn't realized had settled there. I reached up and rubbed at my arms, unable to stop the appreciative murmur that left my lips.

Leaving me on the steps, Riku walked towards the single table in the room. I watched him curiously. Whatever was on the table was blocked from my view by his body, and I hastened down the steps to see what had captured his attention.

"Oh," was all I could utter. Sitting on the table in front of us, under a crystal dome, was a rose. Its stem was devoid of thorns and its petals were such a deep, perfect red, it made the carpet we were standing on look pale. Despite the fact that a good portion of those petals had fallen off, it was the most beautiful rose I had ever seen. As we stared at it, another petal came loose, as though caught in a gentle wind, and floated to the bottom of the case.

Frowning, I reached forward, fingers just brushing the crystal before Riku's fingers snaked around my wrist, pulling it back. I looked up at him sharply, then back at the rose, suddenly realizing that I'd reached out without thinking.

"Don't," he warned quietly. I nodded in response, though my eyes were still glued to the rose, and felt Riku's grip on my wrist loosen. Something stirred within my heart and I twined my fingers through his instinctively. He stared at me, a question in his eyes, but said nothing.

"It's enchanted," I said. The question in his eyes turned into a sarcastic smirk.

"No, really?"

"Shut up." I glared at him and pulled my hand away, smacking him on the arm. "It's powerful, I can… I can feel the magic on it." I couldn't explain it, but it felt as though the enchantment on it was larger than the castle itself.

"I think it has something to do with why the castle is like this." I looked around us and rubbed my arms, suddenly chilled despite the fire. Riku's smirk dropped and fell into seriousness.

"We should get out of here," he said, perhaps sensing how close I was to reaching out to try to touch the rose again.

"Yeah," I agreed. But as we turned to leave the room, and the rose, behind, the door began to open.

"Hide!" Riku hissed, ducking beneath the table. I rushed to follow him, the short tablecloth fluttering a little as we passed it. The person left the door open as they entered, crossing the room towards where we hid. My hand shot up to cover my sharp intake of breath as the person stepped closer and I realized it wasn't a person at all. The feet that came ever closer to us were large, the joints bending all wrong with each step. The fur that covered these legs cemented the realization that this thing wasn't human. Riku was so silent next to me I had to look over at him to be sure he hadn't abandoned me to the mercy of this creature.

It stopped right in front of our hiding spot and I stopped breathing completely, wondering if we had been discovered. But the creature only lingered for a few moments more before turning and heading back towards the door it had entered by. The door shut behind it, and with it, I felt the presence of the rose fading, though I could still feel the enchantment itself lingering. My suspicions had been right, the spell on the rose affected the entire castle. It was stifling, and I wondered how I had missed it before.

Riku moved first, unfolding from his crouched position beside me.

"We're lucky it didn't notice us," he mumbled, referring to the fact that the tablecloth hadn't nearly been long enough to completely obscure us from view. I stared after the creature, and the rose it had taken away. Something about how powerful the enchantment was made me uneasy. I'd hate to be on the wrong side of the person that cast it.

"Hello?" Riku questioned, face suddenly appearing in front of mine and startling me out of my trance.

"Huh?"

"You gonna come out from under there?" He teased, one eyebrow arched at me in amusement. My cheeks burned.

"Yes!" It came out a bit more forcefully than I intended, and I pushed past him to hide my disorientation. I didn't want to touch the rose anymore. I wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

"Let's find the princess," I said, pulling open the door slightly to inspect the foyer. The creature was long gone and after a quick survey, I deemed it safe to leave the room. If Riku was confused by my strange behavior, he didn't say anything.

With all the obvious rooms on the lower level checked, we made our way through the grand entrance and up the giant staircase. Remembering how my footsteps had echoed earlier, I took care to walk without making any noise, but once at the top of the stairs we were at a loss for which direction to turn. In front of us stood the grand pair of double doors I had noticed when we first walked in. Riku stepped out from behind me and pressed a hand experimentally against the marble. They stayed resolutely shut, and those whispers I had heard before had started again.

I whirled around, scanning the hallway behind us and just barely caught a glimpse of small shadows darting across the floor. The hair on the back of my neck was beginning to stand up, and I was extra aware of where Riku stood next to me. I didn't have to look to know he was scanning the hall as well, but I couldn't tell whether or not he had seen the shadows.

"They're not Heartless," he said, so lowly the end of his sentence came out in a hiss. An unexplainable chill raced down my spine at this unknown threat hiding in the darkness. Instead of starting forward to check it out, as I expected, Riku grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the stairway on our right. We ascended the stairs in silence. Riku didn't loosen his grip on my arm until we were halfway up the staircase, a little bit further away from the things that hid in the darkness.

The stairway ended at another doorway and we pushed it open to get into the hallway beyond it. The hallway was short, with several doors on each side of it. I stifled a weary groan. The castle was far too large to continue searching each room one by one.

"We should split up." I said. Riku looked at me sharply, sparing a moment to glance back the way we came. I knew he was thinking of the things that had been lurking in the entrance hall. He shook his head.

"I don't think that's a good idea. What about those things in the entrance hall?" I drew my staff out from over my shoulder and channeled some magic into making the orb at the end glow.

"I can handle them if it comes to it."

"Okay, well what if that creature comes by again? We have no idea what it is, or what it's capable of." I hadn't thought about that, but I couldn't allow myself to pause. Instead, I pulled out my ace in the hole, and what had turned out to be Maleficent's as well.

"Riku, we'll be here forever if we check each room one by one, and… I don't think Maleficent will exactly be patient." His eyes hardened at the implications and it was a long moment before he responded.

"Fine, but we meet back in the entrance hall in an hour, no matter what. If we can't find her in that time, we start looking together again."

"Deal," I said. He hesitated for just a moment longer before turning away from me and going back the way we came. I looked up and down the hallway at the numerous doors that faced me. With a sigh, I stepped forward and began to search them one by one.

It wasn't until I had made it halfway down the corridor that the voices started up again. I froze, ears straining hard to try to hear what they were saying. The whispers stayed too soft to be distinguishable, and I took a step back towards the main hallway. Immediately, I scowled. Come on, Natsumi! You said you could handle it, now handle it. I took a deep breath and continued forward, and this time, when I neared them, the voices did not disappear. Gradually, they became louder, first distinguishable as two feminine voices, and then distinct words began to emerge.

"—stunning my dear, just beautiful!"

"Oh, thank you," a gentle voice answered. "Do you think he'll like it?"

"Like it? If he doesn't love it he must not have eyes." The second girl giggled softly at the praise. The princess? I stood outside the door silently. She had a companion inside, should I go get Riku? No, that was silly. Who knew how long it would take to find him, and besides, I should be able to handle two lone girls. Choice made and staff held out at my side, I pushed my way through the door.

The girl turned from her wardrobe with a gasp, hands coming up to cover her mouth. Her regal gold ball gown rustled and shimmered with her movement.

"Princess, you need to come with me," I said, attempting to sound authoritative, though the obvious absence of the source of the other voice unnerved me.

"Princess? And just who are you?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly. Oh geez, where does Maleficent find these warrior princesses? Why couldn't they all just be meek and terrified? The look in her eyes reminded me of Jasmine, back in Agrabah, the girl I let go who was captured anyways. Fine, no use wasting time pleading with this one as I had before.

"That's not important. You have to come with me now." I took a step further into the room and though the girl's hands tightened minutely on her arms, she didn't step away.

"You can't be serious. Did Gaston send you? I already told him I won't marry him."

"No, I work for...someone else." Her guarded expression dropped just a little.

"My father? He sent you? Is he alright?" I paused for a moment, wheels turning in my head.

"He's fine, but he's worried about you, trapped here with that creature."

"He's not a creature!" The girl's eyes narrowed at me in rage and she now held her clenched fists at her sides. "He's a wonderful person, and he's treated me kindly! You can tell my father that."

"Okay, okay," I said, holding my hands up in as placating a gesture I could manage while still maintaining a grip on my staff. "Those were his words, not mine. He warned me to be careful."

"There's no need for that," she said, voice softening in distress.

"You..." I trailed off, and the girl took notice.

"I what?" I shook my head.

"Nothing. Look, your dad really wants to see you, he begged me to come get you." An unsure expression came across the girl's features and she debated for a long moment before finally—

"Yes, alright. Please, take me to him." I felt some of the tension ease from my shoulders as she agreed to go with me. I motioned to her to follow me and turned around to leave. Before I could leave the room, an enormous roar tore through the castle. The noise jumpstarted my heart and I had just started to move again when the princess came barreling past me.

"Beast!" She shouted, dress gripped in her hands as she rushed down the hallway as fast as her heels would allow her.

"Princess!" I chased after her, following her through the hallway and down the staircase back into the main entrance hall. At the bottom of the steps she suddenly stopped and I could see why.

"Riku!" He had his back to us, but quickly looked over his shoulder, simultaneously bringing his hand up. The motion summoned several Heartless and at a silent command from their master they formed a barrier in front of the staircase leading to the opposite wing. I rushed past the princess, eyes wide as I took him in. Three large gashes stretched across his right arm, and it looked as though his cheek was beginning to bruise.

"What happened?"

"The creature," he said shortly, looking behind me. "Is that the princess?"

"Yeah, I was taking her to her father," I started.

"I don't believe you anymore!" She cut in, defensive once more. Riku swore softly under his breath, and I echoed the sentiment.

"We have to go now," I said urgently. Without speaking, both of us turned towards the princess. Though she tried to stay fierce, there was a glimmer of fear in her eyes.

"Leave me alone!"

"Belle! Get away from her!" The creature's voice dissolved into a growl as it ran down the stairs, knocking Riku's Heartless barrier out of the way as though they were nothing. My eyes widened as I took in my first complete view of it. Without a table obscuring it from the knee up, I could see the sheer size of it. Fur covered it from head to toe, and the look of its face was one of pure and complete hatred towards us.

"Riku, go!" I threw up my staff and cast a barrier spell before the creature could attack us. The bubble surrounded us, and I felt the sudden influx of darkness as Riku called forth more Heartless. They swarmed around Beast, clawing and climbing, all desperate to get his heart.

"Beast!" The girl we now knew as Belle shouted. Despite her fear, Belle rushed forward to try to aid him.

"Stay back," I shouted as Riku grabbed Belle by her arm and jerked her back.

"Master!" A voice I vaguely recognized came from behind us on the stairs and I couldn't help but look back. To my shock, it was the wardrobe that Belle had been standing in front of when I entered her room. The wardrobe had its doors open wide, and its eyes were narrowed in rage.

My shock had caused my barrier to almost drop, but the Heartless kept coming. No matter how many dark creatures the beast knocked away, more sprang up in their place. I watched as Beast struggled through the onslaught of darkness, slowly but surely edging his way closer. More Heartless stood in front of the wardrobe, blocking this new threat from reaching us. This foe was a lot less adept than the beast at beating the Heartless away.

"Riku, make a portal! Now!" He was better at it than I was, quicker to create and shape the darkness to his purpose. We needed that now. I tried to cast another barrier spell, but the beast was upon us. His arm shot out, and even though Heartless clung to him, the blow he struck me with was strong enough to send me flying towards the double doors I had so admired earlier.

"Natsumi!" Responding to his will faster than Riku could voice it, several Shadow Heartless piled behind me, cushioning my fall. I looked at him in wonder as the little shadows melted into the ground and resumed attacking the beast. I had never seen Heartless used to protect before. Guard maybe, but never actually preventing harm from coming to somebody. But there was little time to wonder at the strangeness of their actions when the creature had turned from me, no longer perceived as a threat, and charged towards where Riku still held Belle.

He was attempting to make a portal, but Beast was faster, he would be upon Riku before the portal had opened.

"Hey ugly!" His split second of distraction was all I needed. Concentrating, I flung my strongest firaga spell at him, but instead of being the warm red orange of flickering flames, this spell was a fierce purple-black. It hit him directly and exploded upon impact, knocking him backwards and down the stairs. I stared after his body with wide eyes. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and did not get up.

"Beast!" Belle called again, distraught voice breaking through my shock.

"Master," several voices cried out, and out of the doors Riku and I had checked earlier came various other household items, all with faces stricken with worry.

Heartless had begun to swarm over his body, like ants on a piece of food.

"What have you done to him?" Belle's teary eyed accusation fell heavily on me and I turned my wide eyed stare on her. She struggled against Riku's grip on her arm, but couldn't break free.

"I—"

"Natsumi! Worry about it later! We have to go!" I nodded, finally able to get my body to move as Riku summoned a dark corridor for us to escape through.

"I'm not going with you," Belle protested, still struggling against us.

"Yes you are, Princess," I said, giving her a push against her back that sent her tripping into the corridor. As the entrance closed behind us I took in several things at once. The objects worrying over their master, who had begun to stir despite his injury, the wardrobe barreling towards the dark corridor, and the horde of Heartless that had begun to emerge from the darkest corners of the castle, more than I was sure Riku had summoned.

The corridor closed before the wardrobe could reach us, and with the immediate threat gone, I let out a huge breath. I turned around to see Riku kneeling over the princess who had, just like Jasmine, collapsed the moment she was engulfed in the darkness.

Hook's ship rocked gently under our feet as I bandaged up the wounds on Riku's arm. I had cast cure on it the best I could, but midway through the spell the magic had stopped being the gentle green of healing and become tinged with the purple-black that had engulfed my firaga. No matter how many times I tried, the spell would not cast properly. What I had managed to cast on him only sealed the wounds up well enough that we could move Belle out of the corridor and to the ship that awaited us.

Maleficent's smile as she had the girl taken away was genuine, but wicked. She had offered us a "Well done," and even conceded that we deserved some rest before disappearing through a dark corridor of her own. I pressed the last bit of the bandage into place on Riku's arms, my fingers splaying out momentarily over the fabric. Riku had remained silent, staring steadfastly at his hands, alternately clenching or flexing his fingers.

"It wasn't your fault," I said, fingers twisting nervously in my lap.

Riku clenched his hands and left them like that.

"You don't know that." I opened my mouth to argue and then promptly shut it. I didn't know that, much as I wanted to believe without a doubt that Riku hadn't caused a world to fall into darkness like our islands had. I stared at my hands, thoughts churning.

"Was that a... dark firaga?" When I looked up for a split second, it was to find Riku appraising me out of the corner of his eyes. I made a gesture that was somewhere between a helpless shrug and a nod. It was almost as if I could see a dark mist radiating from my hands.

"I was trying to cast a normal firaga."

"Did Maleficent show you how?" Though Riku and I had often trained together, Maleficent still took care to make sure we got individual training as well.

"She tried. I…didn't want to learn." But clearly somewhere along the way I had learned enough to cast it without meaning to, but not enough to hold it at bay.

After a long pause, Riku left silently, without so much as a thank you for taking care of his wounds, leaving me with my thoughts. I had asked Maleficent to help me control my darkness, and then immediately spurned her teachings. My lack of control had scared me so much I froze during a fight, when the very world was collapsing around us. I clenched my fists tightly, feeling my nails bite into my palms. The next day I sought out Maleficent, who was all too happy to resume my training.

"What do you get out of helping us?" I asked her during one of these training sessions. Her lessons in darkness were less vigorous than the ones in regular magic casting. It seemed counterintuitive to listen to the way she explained it, that to gain control of it first required relinquishing control to it. No matter how many times she insisted this wasn't actually the case, I couldn't convince myself of it. Her repeated variations of "let the darkness into your heart" weren't exactly reassuring.

"What makes you think I gain anything from helping you?" The firaga I was trying to infuse with only a slight amount of darkness flickered and became significantly darker as I gave her a withering look. We both knew I was smarter than that, unable to trust her fully after she revealed her true colors to us. Her lips curled into a smile and just like every other time she did it, I was unable to tell what she was actually pleased with.

"You didn't tell us about the princesses until after the puppet. But you made us kidnap Jasmine in Agrabah." It didn't take a lot of thought to piece together that both of these girls were Princesses of Heart. Maleficent had been targeting them probably longer than we had been around. I concentrated harder on pulling the darkness back from the fire held in my palm, but it stayed resolutely still. The fire and the darkness twitched with my annoyance.

"Locating the princesses is a mutually beneficial arrangement. Or do I have to remind you of the current state of your friend?" The warning was clear and I bit the inside of my lip to keep from talking back. This relationship was a complicated creature, and I was beginning to doubt the "mutually beneficial" part. But Kairi was still a shell and Sora was still frolicking with new friends and Riku was still singularly focused on Kairi so I kept my mouth shut. Maleficent knew exactly what cards were in everybody's hands, and I had none.

My firaga expanded and at once became completely dark.


	11. A Shanghaied Trio

Chapter 11

Sometimes the pirate ship stopped near Hollow Bastion, and we would disembark for a time. More often than not Hollow Bastion was where Maleficent conducted our training, where the stone floors and walls were more forgiving of our mistakes than the timber of the ship. This visit had strayed from our lessons, Maleficent disappeared on the second day, leaving us to our own devices.

Her original warning against exploring the castle was irrelevant to us now, even more so than it had been when I first overheard her through that door speaking of how useful Riku and I would be. Riku and I took up our usual haunts again, him in the library, and me wandering around without purpose. The castle was empty without Maleficent's partners around and I remembered the way Hades had addressed their loss of Jafar. How many more of Maleficent's partners had been stopped by Sora, I wondered. Was Hades one of them?

_Schmooze him, kid._

I scoffed at the memory. As if that was possible with _her_ around. I looked down at Kairi, laid out in front of me like a princess in a fairy tale and I wasn't entirely convinced she wasn't. In the ballroom, the Princesses of Heart were suspended around her, each in her own glass chamber, eyes closed peacefully. Maleficent said they were contained for their protection, so that no harm would come to them. I scoffed at that too.

The only thing out of place was Kairi, eyes still open. Or at least they had been until Riku had visited her yet again. It was rare to see him out of the library, but I stopped in my approach when I heard him speaking to Kairi. I paused a moment, listening carefully. I had talked to Kairi before, but I didn't think Riku had. His voice carried softly to me, echoing in my ears.

"Please Kairi," he said. "Please wake up. I'll...I'll do _anything_." It was then that I noticed how closely he was standing to her, his left hand raised and brushing across her face or her hair. I moved without thinking, squeezing myself between a pillar and one of the princesses' chambers. I held onto the chamber tightly.

"What do I have to _do_?" His voice broke in frustration on the last word, his head bowed. He mumbled some more phrases, too quick and too quiet for me to understand. I had done my fair share of whispering in Kairi's ear, once hoping that my words would wake her and she would sit up giggling at me and say, "That's what you're worried about?" But this was different, the desperation in his voice was all for her, unlike mine.

I didn't notice at first when he stopped talking to her, instead just staring down at her unseeing eyes. I watched him steadily, heart pounding in anticipation of some unknown thing. I could see that the look on his face was tormented, eyebrows knitted in concentration. My fingers had become slick with sweat and slid down the glass. Why couldn't I just leave? The pressure in my chest was becoming unbearable when he finally acted again.

"Maybe this..."

I didn't have to wait long to see what he meant by 'this'. He leaned down further, hair falling in front of his face, hand still pressed against Kairi's hair and my thoughts and heart just stopped. My stomach dropped swiftly and my fingers lost their purchase on the glass chamber as I leaned heavily against it. _WHY, WHY, WHY?_ He was lingering there, motionless, the silent screams inside of me building up and up and up.

This was what Maleficent had been talking about, I would _never_ have his attention as long as she was around, and she didn't even have a heart to compete with. She was exciting and playful and mysterious, the girl with no memories from another world, and I was just the girl who lived down the street from them.

_"My dear, you think if you help her regain her heart he'll suddenly notice you?"_

No, no I didn't think that. Not anymore, as he pulled away from Kairi with a hopeless longing on his face that brought tears to my eyes. He let out a heavy sigh and turned away from her, footsteps echoing as he walked out of the grand hall, eyes on the floor and not seeing me hiding there. I didn't know how long I sat there as my tears dried on my cheeks and the ache in my heart went from throbbing to numb. Finally, I stood and walked over to the platform Kairi lay on.

I stared down at her, her eyes now closed in repose. My hands clenched into fists next to her prone body.

"He chose you," I barely whispered to her. "We shared a paopu and _I_ was the one who left the islands with him... and he still chose you." I remembered a race between Riku and Sora, just a few days before this whole journey started, and the wager Riku put into place. He had called it a joke, but...

"I guess you're the one he should've shared the paopu with," I said bitterly, mouth twisting at the thought. I stared down at her, mostly convinced she was a princess from a fairytale, and then turned and left her behind. She didn't need me. Not when she had Sora and Riku obsessed with finding her heart.

* * *

A few days later we were back on the pirate ship as it was once again jolted, though this time Riku and I stood on the deck, fully aware of the plan that had been formed. The gummi ship we had rammed was Sora's, and at Maleficent's command we were to get him aboard the ship using any means necessary. I clung to a railing near the wheel of the ship, noticing that Riku seemed to be taking pleasure in this attack. Hook stood nearby, mouth twisted in a scowl as his ship was put through more abuse.

The single charge was strong enough to knock the three travelers from their vessel, and they fell onto the deck in an unconscious heap. Hook stepped forward to assume control, barking orders to the crew.

"Take them to the brig!" The crew rushed to do as he ordered, but a quieter, though no less authoritative voice stopped everyone in their tracks.

"Stop." Riku stepped away from the wheel of the ship, standing at the railing and looking down at the crew. Looking at Sora, Donald, and Goofy had made my stomach roll with nausea, but Riku eyed them with cool disinterest. When Hook opened his mouth to protest, Riku continued like he wasn't even there.

"Natsumi," he said, gaze turning to me. "Take his friends," the word sounded like a curse, "below deck and guard them. Leave Sora to me." I stared at him for a long moment, contemplating if I should ask him what he planned to do with Sora. Nobody moved, waiting to see what would be decided next. I had half a mind to tell him that I wasn't somebody he could order around, but ultimately complied with his orders.

"You heard him," I snapped at the crew, giving them a fierce glare and letting a crackle of electricity zip through the air. They clearly remembered the last time I had made such a threat and rushed to follow the order. The duck and dog were quickly removed from the tangled mass of limbs between the three travelers and I followed behind them with my arms crossed. As the door to the lower decks shut behind us, I could just make out the groan that signaled Sora coming back to consciousness.

The pirates deposited Sora's friends into an empty hold and slammed the door shut. One of them produced a key from his pocket and offered it to me. I took it from his hand and twisted it forcefully in the lock, the loud click satisfying. The crew stood around, waiting for my next orders and I stared at them, wondering when Riku and I had taken control of a band of pirates.

"Go," I told them, "Your work is done here." They rushed away, some of them giving half hearted salutes before doing so and I was left alone with Donald and Goofy.

"Gee," a familiar voice caught my attention, "don't we know you?"

I looked up at the dog who was staring at me from between the bars of the holding cell, eyes questioning.

"We've met," I acknowledged shortly, looking away.

"Wak!" I instinctively looked back at the hold. The duck was glaring at me from next to Goofy, hands wrapped around the bars and tugging against them. "You're the one who kidnapped Pinocchio!"

"Gawrsh, that's right," Goofy agreed, staring at me with wide eyes.

"We never kidnapped him. He never left the whale," I protested, crossing my arms. I wished they had stayed unconscious, and wondered how long Riku expected me to guard them.

"You tried to," Donald said angrily. "You and Riku!"

"What were you gonna do with him?" Goofy asked.

"It doesn't matter!" Donald turned his anger on Goofy. "They tried to kidnap him and they were gonna fight Sora!" The duck turned back to me. "Who are you working for?" He demanded fiercely. I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes, arms still crossed.

"Wouldn't you like to know," I said snidely. Donald squawked in anger, tugging harder against the bars.

"Unlock this door!"

"No."

His angry shouts continued, as Goofy took a quieter approach.

"Gee Natsumi," he said softly. "We can help you with whatever the person your workin' with is helping you with. Then you and Riku and Sora can get along again." I looked up at him with wide eyes, arms uncrossing to hold my arms protectively around myself.

"No, we can't."

"NO, WE CAN'T."

"Gawrsh," Goofy said, looking between Donald and me, eyes sad at our simultaneous denial. "I don't think that's true," he continued. "After all, you're Sora's friends, so I'm sure you're not bad people."

I said nothing, even as Donald contradicted him, and the two started bickering among themselves. I stared at the wall, resolving not to speak with them again. After all, the only reason I was down there was to guard them and do nothing else.

"WAK!"

I jumped up from my chair at their shouts and the crashing noise that accompanied them, reaching behind me and pulling my staff from over my shoulder to aim it at the intruder. Sora lay sprawled out on his two friends, all three of them groaning in pain.

"Donald? Goofy?" He mumbled, blinking rapidly.

"A'hyuck, sure is, Sora," Goofy said brightly, despite having just been crash landed on by a fourteen year old boy.

"Donald! Goofy!" He adjusted himself and in the process kneed Donald in the side and nearly kicked Goofy in the face. "It's her, she's here!" For a split second I wondered why he was so excited to see me, but then his breathless exhalation stopped me short.

"Kairi!"

Of course. That would be why Riku had had her above deck. To taunt Sora with.

"You don't say," Goofy said pleasantly, as though he hadn't just been arguing with Donald, or almost kicked in the face.

"Yeah," Sora continued, "It was definitely Kairi. I've finally found her."

"Alright, then let's go up and talk to her!"

"Yeah!"

"Sounds great," Donald interrupted, "But you're forgetting something."

"What?" Sora asked, as the three disentangled themselves from each other.

"Me," I finally cut in, holding my staff out at my side and staring down my nose at them. Sora's eyes widened and he pushed Donald and Goofy out of the way in his haste to get to the front of the cell.

"Natsumi? Did you know Riku's siding with the Heartless? Are you here to help us escape?" I inhaled slowly, closing my eyes and releasing the breath.

"She's working with the Heartless too," Donald shouted, and when I opened my eyes again it was to find him glaring at me.

"No way," Sora shook his head. "Stop messing with me Donald."

"It's true, Sora," I said. "I'm not here to release you." His eyes widened in disbelief. "I'm here to guard you."

"That doesn't make sense. What are you talking about?"

I sighed in exasperation.

"It means she's working with the Heartless!" Donald repeated, waving his arms for emphasis.

"Natsumi, what are you thinking?" Sora asked. "You and Riku… working with the Heartless, the darkness will swallow you guys!"

"Oh cause you know so much," I spat at him. "We know what we're doing." I looked away from him, trying to ignore the fact that we hadn't chosen this, so much as we might pretend to have.

"No you don't," Sora cried, clutching the bars of the cell in earnest. "I've seen what it does, how it destroys people—"

"You don't know anything, Sora!" He withdrew into the cell, pressed against Donald and Goofy, face crumpling in on itself.

"You… you don't mean that," he said, trying to regain his bravado. I put away my staff and stared evenly at him.

"I do mean it." I looked at Donald and Goofy behind him, Goofy's gloves clutching Sora's arm in support. "Enjoy your new friends. I hope they were worth it." I turned and walked away from them. Screw guard duty.

"Natsumi, wait—"

I slammed the door before he could say anything else. I walked through the lower decks of the ship in search of Riku. It was time I was brought in on the plan instead of being used like a lackey.

As I approached the captain's cabin, I could hear voices from inside. The first one was Hook, disgruntled and impatient.

"What is Maleficent planning anyway?"

And Riku answering, voice cool and aloof.

"Who knows? As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back, I couldn't care less."

Kairi. I stopped at the door. What would be the point of going inside? Riku wouldn't listen to me. He'd just keep worrying about Kairi. The way he kissed her in the grand hall replayed in my head, the look on his face. It wouldn't matter what I said.

"I will find it no matter what."

I stood outside of the room we had been staying in with Kairi, where she was now with another girl Maleficent had thought would be a Princess of Heart. I could hear her voice as I pushed open the door.

"She hasn't budged an inch," Wendy told somebody as she leaned over a grate in the floor. Their identity was revealed moments later as I hear Sora say, "Kairi? Kairi!"

As if in response to his voice, Kairi's hand twitched minutely. My eyes widened. It had been months since Kairi had shown any sign of life, and yet at one word from Sora she was moving again. I felt my blood begin to boil. How was it that Riku and I had been speaking to her all this time and nothing happened?

I slammed the door against the wall and stormed into the room. Wendy looked up in surprise as I reached for Kairi. The girl was surprisingly light as I lifted her into my arms and began to leave the room.

"Stop! Where are you taking her?" Wendy jumped up, grasping at my arm in an attempt to pull me back. I turned on her, thrusting her back with my elbow. The girl fell backwards, eyes widened in shock as she landed on the floor.

"Away from here," I replied lowly. Smee had appeared in the door, and I pushed past him.

"The captain wants the hostages in his cabin."

"So take her there," I told him, walking down the hallway of the ship. Kairi's legs jostled with no will to keep them still, occasionally smacking her purple shoes into walls and corners. I looked ahead, no destination in mind. What would Sora do if he couldn't find her? What would Riku do? Maleficent had threatened to return Kairi to darkness and I wondered what would happen if I let her, if Kairi's heartless body would just sleep in the realm of darkness for eternity. Maybe then Sora and Riku would have no choice but to forget about her and everything would be back to normal.

There would be no more damsels in our game of pirates, no more wagers on who she would share a paopu with at the end of a race, no more tossing her hair back with a teasing giggle. It'd be just the three of us on the play island, the way we used to be. I remembered Sora's voice, bursting with excitement as he called, "Natsumi, look at this!" That day he and Riku showed me the secret place, walls already covered with etched in drawings done with clumsy hands. We'd add more drawings, now that we had been to other worlds, drawings of talking cats and gummi ships and enchanted roses. There was only one thing standing in my way.

I looked down at Kairi and set her on the floor, leaning her up against the wall. I waved my hand in front of her face to no response, not that I was expecting one anymore. If her heart was gone, what was the use in lugging around this empty shell that only tormented us? I could simply... The quiet whoosh of a dark corridor coming into being filled my ears. All I had to do was drop her in there and then close it back up and never see her again. The portal twitched forward, gaping hungrily over us.

"Natsumi." The voice didn't shout, but it was enough to make me wince and send away the dark portal in a rush of cool air. Looking up, I saw Riku leaning down, already gathering Kairi delicately into his arms. Her head fell forward to rest against his chest and I felt my voice get stuck in my throat.

"What the hell were you doing? You were supposed to make sure Sora didn't escape." He looked down his nose at me and I quickly stood up, throwing my hands to my hips.

"Sora's nagging was driving me nuts. Next time, why don't you guard him?" His eyes narrowed minutely and he clutched Kairi a little closer to his chest.

"Your carelessness is going to ruin everything." He turned away from me and started walking down the hallway, back towards Hook's cabin.

"Aw, Riku, are you saying you can't handle him?" My words caused him to halt and whirl back towards me so quickly I stumbled backwards to avoid being hit by Kairi's legs. I shouldn't have been surprised by the anger on his face, or the way his arms wrapped ever tighter around Kairi.

"I shouldn't have to with your help, but all you want to do is play both sides. You can't do that Natsumi, you have to choose! It's me or him!" I felt my lips twist down into a deep scowl, and I took the step forward to close the distance that separated us.

"I have to _choose_?" I spat at him. "First of all, how dare you ask me to choose when it's clear what your choice is?" I looked down at Kairi pointedly and then back up at him. "And second, and I can't believe you're so _dense_, I already chose!" I reached up and prodded his chest with my finger, eyes holding his as the tirade escaped me. "I chose _you_, you idiot! I chose you when I took your hand while the island was destroyed. I chose you every time I stepped through a portal. I chose you every time you fought with Sora and I turned my back on him! I chose you even though you're too obsessed with Kairi to care. And guess what: I'll always choose you."

We stood there, my breath coming fast with the force behind my words and the heart stopping realization that I had essentially just confessed my feelings to him. _It wasn't supposed to be this way._ The scowl dropped from my face, my mouth slightly open. His wide eyed gaze lingered on me and I thought, finally, he was showing emotion again. I pursed my lips as we stared at each other, his cheeks colored faintly and I couldn't keep eye contact anymore. I looked off to the side, face hot.

"I mean it," I said, though the words sounded petulant instead of passionate. "I'll—" I couldn't repeat it, now that my brain had realized what I said.

"Good." My head snapped back up. Good? That was all he had to offer me after I had just told him I would follow him anywhere?

"What the hell do you mean 'good'?" I snarled, hands clenched. "That's all you have to say?" His mask was back in place and the red was fading from his cheeks.

"We don't have time for this." He walked away from me, down the hallway towards Hook's cabin.

"Damn it, Riku!" I chased after him, stepping through the door a moment after him. "Make time! I'm not just some lackey standing around waiting to do everything you say."

If he was going to answer me, I would never know, because at that moment Sora came bursting through the doorway, Donald and Goofy in tow. Always interrupting us. It took only a second for Riku to summon a dark shadow in the shape of Sora and another second for him to bring a dark portal into existence. I looked between the two of them—Sora's face contorted in utter surprised hurt and Riku's irritated disgust—and my heart ached, but all I did was step into the portal Riku had created.

Sora's shout of, "Guys, wait!" was swallowed into the darkness.

* * *

Waves lapped at the beach, the water a crisp clear blue that stretched to the horizon, and maybe beyond that. The sand was warm and pliant beneath my feet as I watched Sora and Riku wade deeper into the ocean, the water now up to their waists. Sora kept disappearing beneath the water, and every time he did it set my heart racing even though I knew he was just trying to catch fish.

As Sora dove under again, Riku looked up at me with exasperation. My fingers dug into the sand. I never went into the ocean with them, unless it was in our boats on the way to the play island. He held out his hand to me, silently urging me to join them.

"Natsumi! Come play!" Sora splashed up from under the surface, a little closer to the shore than he had been when he dove down. I shook my head at both of them.

"I don't want to!"

"Come on," Sora whined, drawing out the words as long as he could.

"No!" I called back. I was just fine on the beach, even if it meant I was by myself for the time being. Riku and Sora would come back in eventually and then we could play something else. Riku was already trudging towards me, halfway back to the beach. I waved at him with a small smile. When he reached me, he sat down, legs stretched out in front of him. Sora stuck his tongue out at both of us, and then fell backwards into the water.

"I could teach you how to swim. Then you wouldn't be afraid and you could come play with us."

"I'm not afraid," I protested, even as I blushed.

"Then prove it," he challenged, standing and offering me his hand again. Competitive spirit rose within me, and I stood without taking his hand.

"Fine, I will!" I ran towards the water as quick as I could amidst Sora's cheers and encouragement. But despite that and my own defiance, I stopped with my feet just barely in the water. When the waves pulled away, I was only standing on wet sand, sinking into it minutely with each new wave.

"I thought you weren't scared." I whirled around to see Riku behind me, hand on his hip and head tilted just a little bit.

"I'm not," I said.

"C'mon then." He walked around me into the ocean and I turned and watched him go as first the water was up to his knees, and then his waist.

"Natsumi, it's fun!" Sora had gone out farther, far enough that his feet must not have been able to touch the bottom. Another wave rolled in, lifting his body up and pushing him in closer to shore. I pursed my lips and stood there silently. It seemed like only a matter of time before they got sucked under.

"Natsu," Riku said. I jumped, having missed his silent approach. His expression had softened from a challenge to sympathetic. When my eyes met his, he silently held out his hand. After a moment, I accepted it and followed him as he slowly led me into the ocean.

I wasn't a stranger to the feeling of the ocean rushing around my ankles, despite my aversion to the water. Fear started as nervousness coiling in my belly, gently reassured by Riku's grip on my hand, but as we trekked deeper, the feeling began to grow. I tugged on Riku's hand abruptly, causing him to stumble for a moment before he kept his balance. The water was a little higher than my waist now, and I started to turn and look back at the shore.

"Don't look back." His words stopped me with my body half turned.

"I don't want to," I told Riku softly.

"But you can do it," he contradicted. His grip on my hand was the only thing keeping me from rushing back to shore. He waited a few moments before pulling on my hand once, goading me into motion again as we waded further and further out. And then all of a sudden the waves were too high, one crashing above my head before I jerked backwards, back into the safety of shallower water.

Beneath the water, something gently wrapped around my hand and I yanked it up and out of the water before realizing that it was just Riku's other hand. Sheepishly, I put my hand back down and this time when he reached out I didn't pull away.

"We don't have to go out any farther." Riku looked out at the water around us. "Here is good." I tightened my hold on Riku's hands and stared at him with wide eyes. How was he going to make this okay?

"It's not so deep here," he added, and looking down I saw he was right. My feet could still touch the bottom easily, even as the waves sometimes rose above my shoulders.

"Once you get the hang of it, it's not hard. Mostly you can just float." I nodded tightly, staring down at my feet to assure myself the ground wasn't going anywhere. "You just kind of move your arms and legs back and forth," he explained, face scrunching up at the vague description. "Let me just show you," he said and made to let go of my hands. Instinctively I grabbed his hands harder.

"No," was all I could manage.

"Just watch," he insisted, momentarily rubbing his thumbs against my hand in a soothing motion. Riku gently untangled his hands from mine and I watched as he demonstrated floating in place. After a few moments, he grabbed my hands again and I felt my heart begin to calm.

"It's easy, Natsumi. You can do it." He squeezed my hands reassuringly. For a long time, I simply stared at him.

"Just lift up your feet. I won't let go, I promise."

With that last promise, I looked into his eyes and finally let go.

* * *

A/N: Ugh, fanfiction is being terrible with formatting right now. I really do not like these lines that I had to use to separate the scenes. But also, another one so soon?! Yes, yes another one. And here we're really starting to get into the end game, so buckle up kiddies.


	12. A True Master

Chapter 12

We had been walking through the dark corridor for far longer than I knew they could go on, and beside me, Riku's breathing was growing labored. His face was coated in a thin sheen of sweat, visible even in the darkness surrounding us. _How much dark power did it take to create that shadow Sora?_

As I watched him struggle, my mouth felt like it was glued shut, the sour taste of rejected confession still lingering on my tongue. I could take Kairi from him. I could offer him some support, a shoulder to lean on. But despite these thoughts and knowing I could help him, I made no move to do so. There was no satisfaction in watching him struggle, but I still had no will to assist him.

_"Hey Riku, maybe we should rest for a minute."_ The words were there, just below the surface, easy enough to think multiple times in a row. He kept his eyes steadily ahead and after a few more moments of tense silence, I finally heaved a deep sigh. At the noise Riku looked up at me. I moved closer to him, close enough to reach out and grab Kairi from his arms, though I didn't.

"Let me help," I implored gently, even as I couldn't get the frown to leave my face. Riku regarded me silently and I realized that we had stopped walking and Riku's arms trembled minutely. It didn't seem like he had noticed yet. He shook his head at me.

"No... I've got it." I pursed my lips in annoyance and closed my eyes for a moment to quell the feeling.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I said, "No, Riku. You really don't." When I looked back up at him, it was to see a watered down version of the irritation he had shown to Sora back on Hook's ship.

"Oh, don't look at me like that." It came out vaguely desperate. I stepped towards him and pulled Kairi out of his arms, noting that his resistance was too easy to break. Grabbing his forearm as best as I could, I tried to cast cure on him, frustrated when the only thing that came of it was that same darkness that had been devouring all my magic since we went to Beast's castle. I stopped the casting abruptly, all traces of magic dissipating into the darkness.

"It's fine," he mumbled, pulling his arm away from my grasp. "We have to get back."

"Back? Riku, did you open a portal all the way back to Hollow Bastion?" His silence was answer enough. "You shouldn't have done this without my help," I scolded him, increasing my pace. Still he didn't say anything, though I knew that he had been told by Maleficent as well as I had what using too much darkness could do. I remembered falling to the deck of Hook's ship, crippled by what I had seen in the darkness. There was nothing here to hinder our way, but I couldn't help glancing sideways at Riku and the evident fatigue on his face. Hollow Bastion was a long way from Neverland.

Still, the only thing we could do was keep walking, and it wasn't until my arms started trembling from holding Kairi for so long that the end finally came into sight. We walked through the exit of the portal, blinking against the sudden change in brightness. Before my eyes could adjust, I heard a dull thud next to me. Looking down, I could vaguely see that Riku had fallen to one knee, gasping for breath and holding a hand against his heart.

"Riku!" I immediately knelt down next to him as best I could with Kairi still in my arms, and noticed the tell-tale flicker of Maleficent's robes in my peripheral vision. "Help him!" I demanded, my eyes finding her face as she moved closer to us. She could do something, she _had_ to.

"It was reckless to bring them here without at least using a vessel." Hook's ship. For the first time since we left, I wondered what had become of Sora after the shadow Sora had blocked his way. "Remember, relying too heavily on the dark powers could cost you your heart."

"Maleficent, will he be okay?" My impatience got the best of me as I addressed the witch directly for the first time since we had met her. Her yellow eyed gaze fell on me and then to Kairi.

"There is no need to worry," the witch assured me, and though the words were factual instead of comforting, I felt my heart rate calm with the knowledge. It seemed as though his breathing was slowly evening out. His back was a little straighter, too, but I couldn't tell how much of that was out of pride or actually feeling better. I nodded in acceptance.

"Natsumi," Maleficent addressed me. I looked back up at her as she continued speaking. "Take the girl back to the Grand Hall." I hesitated for a brief second before complying. Maleficent had always been impossible to say no to, and so I adjusted Kairi and stood carefully. I left the room slowly, giving them both one last lingering look, an inexplicable nervousness buzzing through my body. I walked through the castle, lost in thought.

My feet knew the way to the grand hall, after so many visits to watch the princesses in their chambers, wondering when they would wake up, when they would be able to return home. When we would be able to return home. I had never felt such a persistent ache when thinking of our islands before. It was a dull throbbing that only made itself known at inconsistent intervals. I could almost smell the salt and sand, and the sensation only made the throbbing increase.

I entered the grand hall, walking forwards and laying Kairi back into the exact spot where Riku had leaned down and so tenderly tried to wake her with a fairytale kiss. My muscles tensed up as I let go of her. I still couldn't get the question out of my mind: _Why would he do that?_

"You're lucky," I whispered to her. "Sora and Riku—"

My words were cut off by a very loud, very familiar roar.

For a moment I stood frozen in shock, eyes wide and knees locked. Then, in the next moment, without giving my body a command to move I was tearing through the castle, back the way I came and towards the Beast's rage. It seemed to take far too long to reach the castle doors and as I pushed them open, I finally remembered that I could just summon a portal. I held my hand up and in my desperation I summoned a dark corridor faster than I ever had before. I ran through that and into the basin of the rising falls, onto the platform where we had first met Maleficent.

There I found the Beast, as I had expected, and Riku standing there, cool and confident as ever, as if the darkness hadn't just made a bid for his heart. I reached around my back and grabbed my staff, ready for the fight we had denied the Beast in his castle.

"Riku!" But before I could so much as begin to summon a spell, Riku threw his hand out to the side to halt my attack. My eyes widened in shock, looking between Riku and Beast, ever so slowly noticing that neither of them were prepared to fight. The Beast's eyes flicked to me, and though I could see them narrow, he made no move towards either of us.

"You," he growled deeply. I clenched my hands harder around my staff. The way he said it made me fear for the heart pounding within my chest, as though he would reach out and rip it out with one precise lunge of his paw.

"What's going on here?" I asked suspiciously, fighting hard against the urge to look at Riku, my fear telling me that there was no reason I should ever take my eyes off this threat. Riku's voice was arrogant as he answered.

"I told our friend here," the Beast growled at the familiarity, "that he _could_ rip us apart." I gasped, unable to stop the sound from coming out. "And he could search through the castle for days and days. But he would never find his precious Belle without us."

Beast roared again, his fury so loud I instinctively reached up to cover my ears. My eyes almost closed and I forced them open, but despite his rage, the creature didn't move.

"You know where she is! Return her to me!" The giant's hands clenched into fists, shaking with the restraint it must have took not to attack us then and there.

"First I have some questions," Riku said coolly, as though brushing off the demands of a creature five times his size was something he did regularly. The Beast growled but didn't make a move towards us.

"No vessel, no help from the Heartless... So tell me, how'd you get here?" For a split second I allowed my gaze to deviate from the threat in front of us and move to Riku instead. How he had gotten here was the furthest thing from my mind. What I was worried about was how we were going to get away from him, let alone get rid of him. To my surprise, the Beast actually answered him.

"I simply believed. Nothing more to it." He brought his hand up to his heart and glared at us. "When you brought darkness to our world, when you took her from me, I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her, so here I am."

My heart clenched in pain. Why couldn't it have been so simple a solution for us? That just vowing to find her had been enough for him to come all this way, without even a vessel to protect him from the darkness. What did that say about Riku and me?

"I know she's here! I will have her back!"

"Take her if you can." Riku's voice was callously challenging, dismissing his earlier claims that without us, Beast would never find Belle. I had never dropped my fighting stance and my vigilance was rewarded when the Beast roared again, charging forward in an attempt to attack Riku. I darted forward to try to deflect his attack, but Riku was faster than I was, jumping back and summoning his weapon in one fluid movement before the blade sliced deep into the Beast's flesh. He snarled in pain, falling back and down to one knee.

"A little payback for my arm," Riku said, though he didn't sound especially satisfied by the attack. I stood there, watching transfixed as a small amount of blood dripped slowly from his sword. It had never looked sharper than it did in that moment.

Despite his injury, the Beast stood again, claws poised for attack and smeared with his own blood. As he moved towards Riku, Riku simply stood there waiting. I narrowed my eyes and, using both Beast's hindered movements and Riku's distance from him, pointed my staff at him.

My blizzard spell flew at him, chunks of ice raining down on his head and his open wound. The force of the spell pushed him back and caused enough discomfort to his injury that he was once again down on one knee, breathing heavily from our attacks. Black tinged ice crystals littered his fur and began to melt slowly to the platform beneath us. The darkness had made my spell far more powerful than I had meant it to be, but right then I could hardly see it as a bad thing.

"Stop!"

All three of us turned to look at the owner of the voice, Beast with some difficulty, as the person it belonged to was right behind him.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy came running up the platforms, weapons in hand. Donald glared at us with vindicated suspicion, but Goofy and Sora's faces showed their internal conflict. Here we were proving, despite their faith, that we truly were working with the Heartless. I rose from my semi-crouched stance and stared back at them. Sora's distressed look intensified when I didn't lower my weapon, but when he glanced at the Beast, injured by our hands, the expression smoothed into a characteristic determination.

"So, you finally made it." Riku's voice drew all attention to him, breaking through the silence that had been so thick, you could hear a pin drop. "About time. I've been waiting for you." He paused for a moment, casting a cursory glance around at all these spectators. Something in the air between the three of us felt different. The fragile hope that we might reconcile had been broken on Hook's ship, and I no longer felt the need to interfere. If it came to a fight, I had chosen my side, for better or worse. _Paopu or no..._

"We've always been rivals, haven't we? You've always pushed me as I've always pushed you."

"Riku..."

I kept my mouth shut. This rivalry had no place for me. Mine was in the castle, and I was little competition.

"But it all ends here. There can't be two Keyblade masters."

"What are you talking about?" Sora's voice was defiant, despite his apparent confusion. Though I had been expecting a fight, Riku sent his sword away, the only trace of it ever being there the deep gash on the Beast's chest, and the small puddle of blood that dripped underneath the blade. I looked over at him, frowning at how unpredictable his behavior had become. This was Riku, but with no holds barred, no friendship to make the rivalry gentle instead of bitter. I bent my knees slightly and kept my staff ready. For a brief moment, I caught Donald's eyes before quickly looking away.

We all seemed to wait with bated breath for Riku's next words.

"Let the Keyblade choose... its true master."

Riku held out his hand and the Keyblade jumped forward, pulling against Sora's hands. Sora's eyes widened as he tried to fight against the pull, tightening his grip and leaning his body back to try to gain leverage. Despite Sora's resistance, the Keyblade dissolved with one final tug, causing him to stumble forward as the weapon rematerialized in Riku's hand instead. Donald and Goofy's sounds of disbelief echoed in my ears. I remembered a meeting that seemed like ages ago, where Riku had gotten ahold of the Keyblade with nobody noticing and teased Sora with it before nonchalantly tossing it back. I only now realized that the expression he had worn that had unsettled me so much was covetous. He had been looking at something that he steadfastly believed belonged to him, and now it seemed that nobody could say anything to the contrary.

"Maleficent was right." I looked over at him sharply. He'd never told me that Maleficent had talked to him about the Keyblade. _What other secrets are you keeping?_ "You don't have what it takes to save Kairi. It's up to me. Only the Keyblade master can open the secret door... and change the world."

"But that's impossible. How did this happen? I'm the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade!" Sora yelled in desperation. Riku let out a slight chuckle at Sora's distress.

"You were just the delivery boy. Sorry, your part's over now." The Keyblade disappeared in a flash of light and Riku reached behind his back to pull something free from his belt.

"Here, go play hero with this." He tossed the item at Sora and as it clattered to the ground, I recognized it as the toy sword I had grabbed from the islands all those months ago. All of us knew well by now that it would have no effect on the Heartless. Sora was as defenseless as we had been when all of this began. I watched as Sora crumbled to his knees, bravado falling in on himself as the world once more shifted around him. That familiar ache grabbed hold of my heart, but maybe now there would be only one contender for Kairi's heart.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Riku turn to leave.

"Goofy, let's go. We have to remember our mission." Donald's beak was twisted in an unhappy line as he watched Riku, the apparent new Keyblade master, walk away.

"Oh!" Goofy jumped slightly at Donald's statement. "Well, I know the king told us to follow the key and all... But..." He trailed off, unable to find words that could make this situation better as Donald began to walk away. The duck paused briefly and without looking back said, "Sora, sorry." The words were simple, but his voice was laced with regret. With those parting words, the pair left to catch up with Riku.

"Sora..." The boy looked up at me, and though his eyes were devoid of tears, I had never seen them full of such despair. My heart broke, and I felt tears come to my own eyes. I blinked quickly and turned away, hoping he hadn't seen them. "You should just leave," I heard my voice crack and spat the rest of my words out quickly, "before you get yourself killed." Before he could answer, I ran after all the people that had just betrayed him, knowing that I had added my name to that list yet again.

The four of us stood in the entrance hall, though Donald and Goofy's faces wore looks of dismay, a look that Donald chose to display in an angry way I was learning was characteristic of him. His resentful gaze darted between me and Riku, but it seemed as though he was waiting for orders, nonetheless.

"So what happens now?" I asked, arms folded over my chest. "You guys just follow that key wherever it goes?"

"It's the mission the king gave us!" Donald retorted indignantly, stomping a webbed foot at me. I pursed my lips and chose to leave the conversation with the duck at that. I looked over at Riku, strangely silent as he surveyed us. It was a look that made me bristle at being regarded that way.

"And you," I said to him, "What exactly did Maleficent tell you about the Keyblade anyways? How were you able to take it from Sora?"

In response, Riku summoned the Keyblade again, the burst of light casting shadows across his face. He held it in his hand, a look of extreme satisfaction on his face. Donald and Goofy seemed to shrink back minutely as they eyed the Keyblade with looks of betrayal. They couldn't hide their looks of distrust for its chosen wielder. The metal of the weapon gleamed as it caught the light with the tilt of Riku's wrist. What did it mean, this thing that was able to tear apart a friendship so easily?

"My heart is stronger than his, so the Keyblade moved to its rightful master."

I thought of how the shadows had come to our island, how Riku had stood in the middle of all that darkness with an aloofness that I couldn't find in myself. I thought of the Heartless he had called to Beast's Castle, eyes glowing out of the darkness with a single-minded hunger. Nobody here could deny that his heart was strong. _Will it help you get Kairi's heart back?_ I didn't voice the thought.

"What does it do?"

The sound of voices came from behind us. Riku's eyes fell on the doors to the entrance hall, and a small smirk came to his lips.

"I'll show you."

When Sora and the Beast walked through the open doors moments later, the four of us were hidden in the shadows next to the statue that sat in between the two grand staircases. The Beast's low growl stretched across the empty space between us.

"Be on your guard. They're close, I can feel it. Are you ready for them?"

I felt more than I saw Donald and Goofy's accusatory glances, that they believed we were the source of the darkness that the Beast could sense. Sora nodded at the Beast and the duo continued forward before the Beast abruptly halted once more. My breath caught in my throat and I glanced at Riku, then returned my attention to Beast.

Belle had appeared in the doorway, standing there with her hands clasped in front of her. Her face was serene as she stared at Beast. I turned to Riku.

"How is she...?"

He lifted his chin and gestured that I should continue watching. As soon as I complied, Belle's visage melted away, shrinking and distorting into a tiny shadow Heartless that bobbed in place, taunting Beast. His hands clenched and his body trembled in fury. The Beast let out the most enraged roar I had heard from him yet and raced toward the Heartless. The tiny creature jumped away and scurried away down the corridor.

"Beast!" Sora turned back the way they had come, but before he could reach the Beast to calm him the doors slammed shut, locking Sora in the room with us.

"Quit while you can," Riku advised him coldly, stepping forward out of the darkness. Sora whirled around, a glare on his face. Donald, Goofy, and I stepped forward to stand beside Riku.

"No!" He cried in defiance. "Not without Kairi!" The wooden sword was held loosely in his hand, the end blackened. My eyes widened. Had he been able to channel _magic_ through that thing? Wood was one of the best conduits for magic, a living organic element, but only certain types, cured and enchanted to be able to properly handle the spells that would be cast. That flimsy weapon should have been incinerated with his first attempt at casting. And besides that, he didn't even seem winded by all the magic he must have used to fend off the Heartless on his way to us.

A flash of darkness came from beside me. Riku stood there, the clothes he had worn on our island replaced by a completely different set of clothes. The skin tight sleeves covered his hands and a pair of boots came up to his knees, but the thing I couldn't stop staring at was the emblem of Heartless, emblazoned across his chest.

Looking between the boys I had known almost my whole life, I couldn't honestly say that I recognized either of them. The knowledge made my heart ache sharply and unexpectedly.

Lost in my thoughts, I missed their conversation until Riku spoke again.

"Really... Well, we'll just see about that!"

He held out his hand and cast a dark firaga, the force of the spell pushing his hair back. Sora flinched, bracing himself for the impact, but making no attempt to move from his position. I bit my lip and took an involuntary step forward, but before I could get any farther the spell was dissolving against Goofy's shield.

"Sora ain't gonna go anywhere!" Goofy proclaimed, the look on his face the hardest I had seen him wear, fierce in his desire to protect his friend.

"You'd betray your king?" Riku asked, though his tone conveyed that he didn't particularly care one way or the other.

"Not on your life!" Goofy responded, eyes narrowed. "But I'm not gonna betray Sora either, cause he's become one of my best buddies after all we've been through together!" Goofy's eyes moved to Donald, who I was surprised to find still at our side. "See ya later, Donald. Could ya tell the king I'm really sorry?"

"Hold on, Goofy! We'll tell him together." The duck called back, running across the empty space to stand in front of Sora and Goofy. "Well, you know... All for one and one for all."

The hurt that had been present in my heart before was dissolving as I watched their heartfelt reunion and declarations of loyalty. I felt my lips twist into a deep frown and my blood begin to boil.

"I guess you're stuck with us, Sora." The boy was staring down at the ground, expression hidden from me, but his voice trembled when he replied.

"Thanks a lot... Donald, Goofy."

"How will you fight without a weapon?" Riku cut in. Eyes narrowed at the trio, I readied my staff, unable to think past my anger. Sora looked up again, glaring at Riku.

"I know now I don't need the Keyblade. I've got a better weapon. My heart."

"Your heart?" Riku scoffed. "What good will that weak little thing do for you?"

"Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've made."

"All the friends you made while you should have been looking for us!" I spat at him. His eyes darted over to me, genuinely taken aback by my statement.

"Sora _was _looking for you!" Donald cut in.

"This is none of your business! As far as we could tell, he was just running around with you guys and all his other new friends." I shot my glare back to Sora, whose eyes were wide.

"They needed my help—"

"We needed your help, Sora! Those people didn't matter! We mattered. Stop fighting us!"

"They do matter! I've become a part of their hearts, just as they've become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and then... if they don't forget me... then our hearts will be one." He grasped his wooden sword in both hands, crouching down into a fighting stance. In response I held my staff in front of me, the orb at the top glowing brightly.

"I don't need a weapon. My friends are my power!"

As if in response to this statement, white light began to swirl around Sora's wooden sword, starting from the handle and working up to the singed point. The light quickly dissipated, and in Sora's hands was the Keyblade that Riku had only just claimed as his own. I looked over at Riku, his eyes narrowed in rage. He wasted no time in summoning his old sword and rushing towards Sora. Taking my cue from him, I rushed forward as well, swinging my staff and throwing a stream of lightning bolts between Sora and his friends, separating them from him.

The two jumped back from my attack, their attention immediately turning towards me.

"Your battle's over here!" I jeered at them.

"You asked for it!" Donald retorted, holding his staff up high in the air and summoning his own thunder spell. I dodged the attack, running towards him, counting on the fact that mages were generally not well versed in close combat. Before I could reach him, Goofy's shield crossed my path, the edges just barely missing making contact with me. Jumping back, I looked over at Goofy, noting the torn look on his face.

I looked between them, and deemed Donald to be the bigger threat. Goofy seemed to be holding back and I smirked slightly. That would cost him.

Attempting to use Goofy's attack as a distraction, Donald cast a fire spell at me, and I cast a blizzard spell just a moment too late. Some of the flames slipped past my defense and I jerked away as they licked at my exposed arms. Goofy had retrieved his shield and threw it low, the repurposed weapon skimming just over the ground. I got a running start and jumped over the shield, heading straight for the duo that had made it easier to attack them by sticking close to each other. Donald seemed to notice first that they had become an easy target. A bolt of lightning rained down from the ceiling, and I spun around it on my toes, using my momentum to throw my staff out in front of me and catch a wide eyed Goofy directly in the stomach. The dog flew backwards and to the ground from the force of my attack.

"Goofy!" Donald yelled. Green magic enveloped his friend and Goofy smiled gratefully. He stood back up quickly and summoned his shield back to him. I swung my staff again, and Donald met it with his own, a smaller thing that wasn't meant to be used as a close combat weapon. Pushing harder against his resistance, I forced him back and jumped away to gain some room to work a spell. A blizzard spell shot out the end of my staff towards Donald, but the duck quickly threw up a barrier, effectively deflecting my attack. But what he didn't see was the thin sheet of ice I had spread across the ground. When Donald and Goofy moved in for their next attack they both slid across the ice, the momentum of their attacks ruined. As they tried to regain control of their movements, I summoned a barrage of lightning down on them, most of the strikes aimed true and the duo let out pained yells.

"Donald, Goofy!"

I ignored Sora's yells, instead casting fire towards them, the flames flickering through the air. Scrambling on the ice, Goofy managed to lift his shield up and protect himself and Donald against my attack. The fireballs dispersed, but not before they had melted the ice I had put down, leaving Donald and Goofy collapsed in a puddle of water.

Regaining their footing, Goofy launched his shield at me again. Donald raised his staff and cast a blizzard spell. I thought it was aimed horribly until I saw that he had intended what had happened, coating Goofy's shield in a thick layer of ice. Dodging the shield, I darted to the side... And right into Donald's trap.

I didn't notice the thunder spell he had cast until it connected with my skin, blazing through my veins and searing my skin. The scream that escaped my lips didn't sound human and I fell to the ground hard. How had Donald and Goofy continued fighting so quickly after being hit by my thunder spell? I stared up at the ceiling dazed as two faces swam before my eyes.

_Oh, that's how._ Very faintly I could see a thin stream of wind wrapped around both of them. _Aeroga._ Closing my eyes, I concentrated hard on what Maleficent had been trying to teach me. The darkness was there and I could touch it, and thanks to Maleficent's lessons, I felt it bending to my will. It was more malleable than I had ever realized it could be, as though it had just been waiting for me to finally be ready.

I felt the ripple of power leave my staff like an earthquake, and Donald and Goofy let out shouts of surprise above me. When I opened my eyes they were gone and I unsteadily pushed myself to my feet. My limbs still tingled from the spell, shaking beneath me. Donald and Goofy looked at me with unease.

"I could learn a thing or two from you, Donald. I never noticed you casting that aeroga spell." His eyes narrowed at me and he held his staff defensively in front of his body. Goofy stood there, unsure, watching as Donald and I made no move to attack each other. I breathed heavily, vaguely able to hear the sounds of Sora and Riku's battle around us. Donald's eyes shifted to the other battle, and I cast a blizzard spell directly in his line of vision.

"Not your battle," I reminded him in a sing-song voice.

"Aw, give it a rest!" Donald shouted, glaring at me.

"Not on your life," I mumbled, taking a few deliberate steps forward. Using that momentum I spun around once and launched fireballs at them with more force than I'd ever managed in the past. They blocked each and every one, but I kept moving forward, flinging them as fast and as hard as I could so that the two could do little but back up. It was when their backs were up against the wall and they had nowhere else to go that I heard it.

A cry of pain that made my battle heated blood run cold.


	13. An Offer of Darkness

Chapter 13

I would recognize that voice anywhere. I halted my attack on Donald and Goofy, turning away from them and towards Sora and Riku. Riku staggered back from Sora, holding up his sword as best he could, but even from that far away, I could see how his arm trembled. In the next instant, Sora was raising the Keyblade, ready to land the final blow that would at the very least incapacitate Riku.

I urged my aching body into motion, hand flinging up and creating a dark portal that took me just a bit farther than my original starting place. At the same time the portal disappeared Sora's face came into view, a look of horrified surprise crossing his features faster than he could stop his attack. I could tell that he tried to pull back, but it was too little too late. His momentum carried him forwards and I only half succeeded at bringing up my staff in time to block the attack.

The attack flung me backwards and directly into what my pain addled mind barely registered as Riku. The sound of something metallic hitting the floor rang out as his arms wrapped around me. His body cushioned the fall for me, though I could feel his forced exhalation at the impact. As soon as our movement stopped I turned as best I could with his arms still encircling me.

"Are you okay?" I asked breathlessly, skin burning under his touch.

He looked up at me and his silver hair fell back from his face. I recoiled, taken aback at the lividity in his eyes.

"Why did you do that?" He asked lowly, his arms dropping from what I had thought was a protective position around me, but now I felt might have been reflex instead of care. His anger rendered me speechless.

"I-I..." I stuttered, staring directly into his eyes, morbidly captivated by his fury. I once more caught myself looking at a person I barely recognized as my childhood friend. His eyes flickered to a point behind my head, and I could now make out cautious footsteps. Riku closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, they had softened, if only minutely.

"It wasn't your fight," he told me, voice just as low as before as he stood up quickly. Then, without another word he turned and ran away from me. My mouth wouldn't obey my half-hearted desire to call after him.

"Natsumi," Sora's voice came from behind me, more somber than I had ever heard it, and for some reason that triggered me to remember the pain I had managed to block out. I winced, turning back towards Sora without standing up. Donald and Goofy stood a safe distance behind him, eyeing me apprehensively. Sora stared at me with a conflicted expression and I wondered if he had seen any of the fight between myself and his friends.

I felt my mouth twist with a bunch of emotions all roiling together in a way I didn't know how to express. My anger had been tempered by my worry for Riku, but in the back of my mind it still simmered, wondering if he was running back to Kairi. I glared vaguely in the direction he had left, my memories replaying him kissing her on a loop. Sora's stare made me feel distantly ashamed, as though it was somebody else who had shouted at him and attacked his friends and the sensation only made my anger grow._ I_ wasn't the one who had abandoned my friends._ I_ wasn't the one so carelessly distracted while my friends needed me. Looking at Sora, and then looking back to see the way Donald and Goofy were still on guard, I came to a sudden conclusion, maybe the same conclusion Riku had just come to.

I had to get out of here.

I jumped up and ran towards the exit, ignoring as Sora called after me. With an unexplainable urgency, I ran through the castle, doors shutting behind me that I didn't remember closing and with each thud Sora fell a little farther behind. Eventually, the adrenaline faded, my legs gave out, and I fell to my knees in the castle chapel, breathing heavily. I closed my eyes tightly, clenching my hands into fists on the stone floor beneath me.

_He left me._

The realization stung more than the leftover pain from the battle I had just been part of and the unforgiving floor I had fallen onto. He had been livid with me, and then he just left, back to Kairi. The only way I could ever have his attention over her would be if she was gone, completely. Her heart was already gone, so what did it matter if the body was too? His obsession with her was unhealthy, I reasoned, and we had been doing just fine before she came along and Riku decided he had to see the other worlds out there. This entire mess was _her_ fault.

"On your feet, child."

Maleficent's voice had never been so unwelcome. I looked up at her, standing imperiously above me. Her raven stared at me with judgmental eyes and cawed loudly. My eyes narrowed into a glare, and I forced myself to me feet, to prove to her that I could, and to finally finish what I had resolved to do.

"What do you want?" I asked her.

"Only to help you, of course." The witch held out her hand to me, the malicious glint in her eyes obvious. I eyed her hand with distrust. She had offered her help at the very beginning, never telling us it would be dependent on the condition that we kidnap girls, taking them away from their homes and families. She had doled out information to us in bite size pieces, just enough to keep us from lashing out against her.

But the only leverage she had was _Kairi_.

The sudden revelation left me breathless. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it sooner. Getting rid of Kairi would not only free Riku from her thrall, and me from her shadow, but it would free the both of us from Maleficent. I quickly tried to wipe the expression from my face, but when I looked back up at her and saw the smirk on her face, I knew she could tell exactly what I was thinking. Again, instead of seeming enraged, the smirk was only indulgent, like a proud parent. I felt my heartbeat calm with the knowledge that she knew about my plans, and would do nothing to stop me. With the image of Riku receiving the power to control the Heartless in my mind, I reached out for her hand.

As my skin touched hers, I heard Sora call out my name. Instinctively, I turned towards him, and felt the presence of a dark portal opening behind me. Maleficent's hand left mine and I whirled back around just in time to see her disappear through the dark corridor, but not in time to stop her from leaving.

"Maleficent!" I called after her, taking a futile step forwards to try to grasp at the darkness. It dissipated in my hands as I tried to clench my fists around it and in just seconds it was gone completely. For a moment I just stood there, staring at the place Maleficent had been and shaking with a silent rage.

"Natsumi?"

His voice sent me into motion and I spun around to face him, pointing my staff at him threateningly.

"Why do you keep interfering?" I growled at him. His eyes widened in shock at my ferocity, and he held up his empty hands placatingly.

"Why are you working with Maleficent?" He threw back, determination replacing his shock.

"Because unlike you, she was going to help us get Kairi's heart back." Sora's expression morphed into an odd sort of relief, and he stepped forward earnestly.

"That's what I want too! Natsumi, we can work together to find it, and we can all go home!"

I couldn't help the laughter that escaped my mouth. Even to my ears, it sounded like a brittle hateful thing.

"You think I still want that? When you and Riku are all about 'Kairi this', and 'Kairi that'? She's all you two ever think about!" I snapped at him, thrusting my staff forward in a warning for him not to come any closer. "Just in case you don't remember, Sora, _we_ were friends first." I lowered my staff and turned away from him, walking towards the chapel's doorway. "And when she's gone, everything will go back to normal."

After a pause, I heard his footsteps running after me.

"Natsumi wait! Whatever you're planning, don't do it! The darkness has already taken Riku, don't let it take you, too." His hand fell on my shoulder, and without thinking, I cast a dark barrier between us. The force of my spell threw him back, I heard the thud as his body hit the ground. Donald and Goofy called out to him and rushed to his side, kneeling down beside him. Looking at him one last time, fallen once again in front of me I felt the last strings of my sympathy finally break. I waited until I caught his eyes before addressing him again.

"You can't pretend to care now, Sora."

And with that I left them, trapped behind my barrier and unable to stop what was about to happen.

I stood behind Riku and Maleficent, hiding my presence until Maleficent left, grateful that the doors had been left open and they hadn't noticed me come in. Though it seemed she had given me her blessing in my plans to get rid of Kairi, I couldn't help the growing feeling that it was actually a trap. I listened to their conversation, hoping it would shed some light on what Maleficent was planning, but all I gleaned from it was that she and Riku were far more familiar than I had believed.

As I watched them, Riku summoned what I could only assume was a Keyblade, though the only resemblance it bore to Sora's was the overall shape of the weapon. It was a simple design, a black body with a red guard. I stared at it in confusion, listening intently to their conversation.

"Oh, impossible! The princesses of heart are all here." Maleficent's gaze moved to where Kairi lay where I had left her. "It must be her." _Her?_ My confusion grew. What did Kairi have to do with the princesses? The feeling that Maleficent had been setting a trap for me grew stronger.

"Without her heart, she will never be able to release her power."

Eyes widening in sudden understanding, I too looked at Kairi. Maleficent had said there were seven princesses, and a cursory glance around the grand hall revealed to me the six I knew to be princesses. The seventh had been with us all along, an unassuming island girl with an albeit mysterious past. My jealous musings had been right: Kairi was a fairytale princess.

_But she's so normal._ The thought was accompanied by only a little bitterness, still in shock that a princess of heart had been so close to us all along. I thought about how she had easily won me over, quelling the jealous feelings inside of me so that until now they never rose to an angry resentment or outright hatred. Little things that I'd never really noticed before began to take on significance. Like how she tucked her legs primly underneath her when we sat in her living room, making plans for a journey we weren't ready for. The diplomatic way she managed Riku and Sora's rivalry, and my feelings. But these things stood in stark contrast to the unapologetic loudness of her giggles, the teasing way her words were spoken, the clumsy way she ran across the beach after instigating another race. No wonder Riku and Sora were so captivated by her.

My attention was drawn back to the people in front of me as, with a final order, Maleficent summoned a dark corridor and disappeared.

Momentarily distracted by this most recent revelation, I stepped out from my hiding spot.

"Riku."

He turned and looked at me, still in the dark clothing he had worn during his fight with Sora. His gaze held none of the anger that had been present when I'd last seen him. Instead, he dismissed the dark Keyblade and motioned with his hand for me to come closer. I did so, feeling my anger dim a bit more to be replaced by curiosity.

"So, what, you trust Maleficent now?" I asked, crossing my arms and glancing sideways at him. I was unwilling to acknowledge the other part of the conversation I had heard, and what I had deduced. To my surprise, his lips lifted up in a smirk, but it was somehow crueler than his usual smirk.

"Not as much as you might think," he replied, staring at me with a steadfastness that unnerved me.

"You had a Keyblade again," I pointed out, fidgeting under his gaze, but forcing myself to turn and look him in the eye anyways. Something flickered within those aqua depths. He tilted his head, still watching me, a vague interest in his eyes. The motion was familiar and strange at the same time, a glimpse of Riku back on the islands when something caught his attention, but there was something inherently sharp about it. More words rushed out of my mouth, if only to create the illusion of comfortability. "How did you get it?"

He looked around for a moment, eyes landing on each of the princesses in turn, Kairi last. It was in this one small moment that I noticed it: His eyes regarding Kairi with the cool detachment he had shown to Sora. I blinked in surprise, wondering if I was just seeing things, if perhaps Sora's attack had hit me harder than I realized, or maybe Donald's thunder spell had scrambled the synapses in my brain.

"When the princesses are brought together, their power creates that Keyblade." I stared at him with a frown, and when no more information was forthcoming, I began prodding at him again.

"What does it do?" His eyes flashed with amusement as he turned back to me.

"It opens the door, Natsumi. With it, we can finally defeat Sora, and then we can explore other worlds with nobody to hold us back. We don't need Sora and Kairi. It'll be just the two of us." Without my permission, my heart leapt, thinking of those days when it had just been Riku and I in the gummi ship, when we shared a bedroom and sat in comfortable silence poring over the old books of a magnificent castle. _Just the two of us._ It sounded like a promise when he said it like that, a more mature version of a six year old's vow to never forget his friend. My heart pounded in my chest. Like a dream I never wanted to wake up from. And that thought made me hesitate. What about his obsession with Kairi? How had a switch so suddenly flipped, how had he so quickly given up on getting her heart back when only a few hours ago he had carried her so protectively?

When I didn't respond, he spoke again.

"Just accept the darkness, like I did. We don't need anybody else."

I didn't want to say it, but the words came unbidden to my lips and were spoken before I could call them back.

"What about Kairi?" The bitterness was obvious in my tone and I immediately cursed myself for asking it. Why was I questioning it? Why couldn't I just jump for joy and accept his proposal? I had come here planning to make Kairi disappear and now I was asking why he had given up on her. But something wasn't right. Though my heart beat in excitement, there was a tiny part of it still asking questions. When Riku responded, I understood the reason I had asked.

He glanced at Kairi, shrugged, and then looked back at me, face too open and earnest.

"What about her? She's just a distraction now."

That tiny doubt in my heart grew larger and it clenched in pain. This was the reason I had asked.

"Who are you?" I asked lowly, staring into his eyes without flinching. My hands were balled into fists and I swallowed thickly.

"What?" The imposter asked audaciously, eyes widened a little. I narrowed my eyes at him in response, no longer buying the act, angry that I had fallen for it at all.

"You're not Riku," I reiterated. "He would never say that about Kairi."

He looked at me, wide eyes narrowing to a normal amount before narrowing more as he grinned at me. It was the same kind of grin I had seen on Maleficent's face, if more enthusiastic, when it seemed I had pleased her by passing one of her many unspoken tests. With my accusation, the imposter gave up any pretense of being Riku.

"Well done, Natsumi." Goosebumps erupted on my arms as he spoke, sounding far older than the fifteen year old he was trying to pass himself off as. Somewhere during our conversation, he or I had begun to close the distance between us. Now there was little enough space that he could reach out and easily brush his fingers across my cheeks. Immediately they flushed with warmth, my body betraying me as I leaned forward into his touch. I stiffened, realizing what I had done and that I still didn't know who this person was. With great effort, I pulled away from him, and wondered if his touch had cast some kind of spell over me, to draw me in like that even though I knew he wasn't Riku.

"I must confess, I hadn't expected you to notice. Your heart is full of doubts and jealousy. The darkness is a suitable companion for one such as you." His words made me feel naked, stripped down to the secrets I hadn't even told my closest friends. More than anything that I had done on this journey, his words made me feel like dirt, a despicable human being who didn't deserve the affection I longed for.

"What did you do to Riku?" I whispered, tears beginning at the corner of my eyes.

"He's still here. He can see all of this." My eyes widened, searching his for some fragment of the boy who had been my best friend. Though the words themselves seemed like they might have been kind or comforting, there was no other way to interpret them but cruelty. He was saying it to mock me. I tried to pull away from his touch, but it followed me, wrapping around the back of my neck and holding me near him. He continued, "I made him stronger. I could do the same for you."

"Maleficent said the same thing," I mumbled, looking away from him and feeling nothing but weak. Sure I could fight and use magic thanks to her, but the darkness still reigned within me, and I was beginning to lose hope in controlling it. The hand against my skin tensed.

"Maleficent herself is weak, a puppet to the darkness," he sneered in contempt. "I could make you stronger than her."

His words caused me to look back up. Stronger than Maleficent? The possibilities loomed in front of me. My fear of her had been waning, but I still knew better than to cross her. Though she found my defiance amusing, I knew that if I outright defied her she wouldn't be so forgiving. If I was stronger than her... Then I could finally show her. I'd never have to be afraid of her and she wouldn't be able to threaten us—

The thought lost its momentum as soon as I realized there was no "us" anymore. There was a stranger in front of me wearing Riku's skin, making promises that nobody else had been able to keep. Telling me that Riku was here though I had seen no sign of him since the conversation began. For all I knew, Riku was _gone_.

"What makes you different?" I asked, realizing I didn't even know this man's name. He looked at me like I was a child who knew nothing.

"I know more than Maleficent could ever fathom knowing. Accept the darkness, open your heart to it and embrace true power." His insistence reignited a flame inside of me. Their promises of strength had gotten us _nothing_. Again and again we were told that if only we did as they say everything would be okay, that we'd find Kairi, we'd get her heart back, we'd go home, we'd see different worlds, we'd travel, just the two of us—

The promises ran together, one after the other, lie upon lie upon lie. And on top of it, crushing me, was how much I wanted to believe that lie, how much I wanted to just accept it as truth and push away nagging doubts that it would be another promise broken. It already was another promise broken. Riku's promise, _"Kairi's coming with us!"_ Maleficent's bribe, this will help you get her heart back. This stranger's obnoxious insistence, _"I could make you stronger than her."_ I didn't want any of them anymore!

Suddenly all I wanted was the sound of waves crashing on the beach, the feel of sand piling up in my shoes and clinging to my skin. I wanted nights under the stars sitting on the paopu tree with the warmth of my friends next to me, the sticky feeling of paopu juice on my hands as I shared it with a headstrong boy. I wanted water fights and races and silly arguments over who would name the raft. I wanted my _friends_ back.

"Why?" I exclaimed in frustration. "Why does it matter if I'm stronger if Riku's gone because of you and Sora has new friends and Kairi won't wake up?" Confusion ran rampant through my body. The only person I'd had left to depend on was Riku, so why was I bringing up Sora and Kairi? But my tirade didn't cease. The confusion only added to my mounting frustration. I looked into his eyes, narrowed in displeasure and continued shouting.

"I don't want your _strength_, I want to go home!"

He paused for a moment, the expression thoughtful, but with no hesitance, almost as if he had thought it would come this all along. I felt his hand tense against my skin and butterflies erupted in my stomach. I realized, just a moment before he spoke again, that I had pushed something too far.

"You are nothing but a child after all. Pathetically weak." His voice was matter of fact, increasing the feeling in my stomach to a roiling nausea. Reflexively, I reached up to try to smack his hand away, but it was gone before I could do so. His fingers wrapped in a painful grip around my wrist, forcing it down and back so that any way I moved it caused pain.

"I'm not—" The dark Keyblade appeared his hands, suddenly looking more threatening that it had when I believed it was Riku holding it. I couldn't argue, my words were swallowed by the panic that was beginning to set in. My voice echoed in my ears, affirming what he had just said. _Pathetically weak._ I tugged against his grip, but the battle against Sora and his friends was taking its toll and my body felt heavy and unwieldy. Or was it something else?

"Very well." His voice sounded fuzzy and far away, competing against the thudding of my heart in my chest. I couldn't look away from his eyes, the right color, but so wholly not Riku that I couldn't believe I had ever fallen for his act in the first place. "You may not accept the darkness willingly, but you can still be of use to me."

He lifted the Keyblade, positioning it mockingly gently over my heart. My breath caught in my throat and I felt the bile rising. Without consciously commanding my body to do so, I pulled against his grip again, adrenaline causing the pain to disappear. His fingers only tightened against my skin, the feeling of it searing in a different way than when I knew it was Riku touching me. This vice-grip felt invasively intimate, though I knew it was anything but. I lifted up my other arm to try to grab my staff, but the way it was positioned made it so that I could only reach it with my captive right hand. With no other options, I lashed out at him directly, only to shriek in pain when my wrist made contact with the cold metal of the Keyblade. The sound of something cracking rushed through the air and tears began falling down my face in earnest. Pushing the bile down, I managed to find my voice again.

"Riku, don't." I couldn't make it come out as anything stronger than a whimper, still staring into his eyes and hoping against hope for a glimpse of my friend.

"Foolish girl, he is gone. Lost to the darkness for the girl without a heart." But I remembered he had said earlier that Riku was still here, and so I continued searching, wishing that this stranger would disappear. I held out this hope until his eyes flashed yellow at me, the same yellow as the Heartless. Panic exploded within me and my vision tunneled, until all I could see was those yellow eyes, mocking me with an effortless indifference.

"Riku, don't let him do this! Don't let him—!"

My words stopped, as though all the air had been sucked through a vacuum and I couldn't breathe. My eyes widened at the sudden piercing pain, my mind went blank with the sheer force of it. I couldn't feel the rest of my body. Somehow, I looked down to see the Keyblade, point thrust into my chest. It reached deep, the pain inexplicably growing more intense the deeper it went, until it found the point it had been searching for.

My heart.

I gasped for breath, choking as something twisted within my heart, though he hadn't moved the blade. The twisting motion undid a lock inside of me, and just like that—

I fell apart.

* * *

**A/N: **I debated for a long time about whether to put this author's not at the beginning or end of this chapter. Ultimately I decided to put it at the end, because I wanted to let you guys get right into it, and I have some things to say that give away a little bit of the future of this story. First being, this is not the end of Natsumi's journey, although we won't be seeing her for a while. Second, this is not the end of _this_ story, not yet. I also debated a lot about whether or not I wanted this to be the end, because in its essence, this story is about Natsumi and how jealousy can turn a friendship into a bitter all consuming rivalry, and I'm sure we all know how the Kingdom Hearts story ends from here. So why rehash it? Because I'm a glutton for punishment and want to show how this development affects Sora. Right now, I plan for there to be two more chapters, though they will probably be shorter in length from here on out. This chapter has been a long time coming, planned from the very beginning. I hope that Natsumi's sudden shifts in behavior are believable, because at her core Natsumi is just a girl who wants her friends and her home back, even if she is sometimes blinded by her jealousy for Kairi.

Also, this chapter took a little bit longer, because I had an alternate beginning to it, which I decided to scrap because of OOC behavior. But, I still kind of liked the way this alternate version could have played out, so I kept it and decided to include it as a little bonus for the end here:

**Alternate beginning: **

I would recognize that voice anywhere. I halted my attack on Donald and Goofy, turning away from them and towards Sora and Riku. Riku staggered back from Sora, holding up his sword as best he could, but even from that far away, I could see how his arm trembled. In the next instant, Sora was raising the Keyblade, ready to land the final blow that would at the very least incapacitate Riku.

I urged my aching body into motion, hand flinging up and creating a dark portal that took me just a bit farther than my original starting place. At the same time the portal disappeared Sora's face came into view, a look of horrified surprise crossing his features faster than he could stop his attack. I could tell that he tried to pull back, but it was too little too late. His momentum carried him forwards and the Keyblade connected directly with my sternum.

The attack flung me backwards and directly into what my pain addled mind barely registered as Riku. The sound of something metallic hitting the floor rang out as his arms wrapped around me. His body cushioned the fall for me, though I could feel his forced exhalation at the impact. His hair or his fingers brushing against my face. His breathless promise, "You're going to be okay, Natsumi."

When I opened my eyes again, Sora was leaning over me, face stricken with guilty tears. It was easier to breathe than I thought it was going to be, until I noticed the green glow that was fading away. One of them had cast a cure spell on me. As the spell dissipated, I tried to sit up, leaning heavily on the arm Sora offered to support me.

"Natsumi, what were you thinking?" His voice was thick with tears, and his tone wasn't accusatory, but I couldn't help but feel as though it was.

"Protect Riku," I mumbled with as much force as I could muster. I was having trouble keeping my eyes open and I wondered if I was going to pass out.

"Donald," Sora pleaded. There was a pause, awkwardly distorted in my mind, and then I felt the gentle touch of another healing spell. This time it was easy to open my eyes and keep them open, and I shifted some of my weight off of Sora as soon as I was able. Goofy was staring at me with concern, but even though he had cast a cure spell on me, Donald just stared at me suspiciously.

"Where..."

"He left." Sora said, a hard edge to his voice that I had never heard before. I sighed deeply and nodded, not sure if I was too tired or too heartbroken to be surprised. With no warning, I jumped out of Sora's arms, feeling the blood rush to my head as I did so.

"Don't!" Sora said sharply.

I shook off the dizziness as quickly as I could, ignoring his pleas for me to stop and at least rest for a moment. Before my vision had even completely cleared again I was running, up the staircase and through the castle. I heard doors shut behind me that I didn't remember closing and with each thud Sora fell a little farther behind. Eventually, my legs gave out and I stumbled, falling to my knees. I closed my eyes tightly, clenching my hands into fists on the stone floor beneath me.

_He left me._

The realization stung more than the leftover pain from Sora's attack, not even tempered by the way he had whispered to me just before he left.

"On your feet, child."

Maleficent's voice had never been so unwelcome. I looked up at her, standing imperiously above me. Her raven stared at me with judgemental eyes and cawed loudly. My eyes narrowed into a glare, but I forced myself to my feet anyways, if only to prove to her that I could.

"What do you want?" I asked her.

"Only to help you, of course." The witch held out her hand to me, the malicious glint in her eyes obvious, even as I could barely concentrate on her words. Taking her hand didn't seem like a bad idea, and I reached out for it without a thought.

"Natsumi!"

**A/N: **Ultimately I took this out, because I thought, even with the way Riku is treating Sora, and even with the darkness tempting him, Riku would _never, ever_ leave a friend in need. Especially an injured friend. So I tried to work out, well maybe he could take Natsumi with him. But I dismissed this because after this battle, Riku has that fateful meeting with Ansem, and I didn't want to shoehorn Natsumi into that moment. Therefore, I had to make Natsumi's injury less severe, thus, once he sees that she's okay, her interference in his fight with Sora angers him, and he leaves. I want to explain entirely the thought process in Riku's head, but as we have a first person narrator, Natsumi's understanding of his actions is limited, thus creating conflict when he begins to change without explaining to her what's going on.

Thank you to everybody who's sticking with this story, and an even bigger thanks to those who take the time to review. You guys rock!


	14. An Earnest Promise

**A/N: **An update again the very next day?! Yes! Enjoy!

Chapter 14

There was darkness everywhere. Pressing against my mind, my body, my heart, which all somehow felt strangely separate from me. I couldn't tell where it started and I began. I had a feeling this was the darkness that had been inside me all along. Jealousy and hatred bled through it. It was intoxicating and I felt myself falling deeper. Before it engulfed me completely I had one last lucid thought.

_Sorry Riku... I guess our destinies weren't intertwined after all._

* * *

Back in the castle chapel, Sora, Donald, and Goofy took a brief respite, still breathing heavily from their encounter with Maleficent's dragon form. Though they pretended to look busy, tending to their weapons and items, both Donald and Goofy kept sneaking concerned looks at Sora. The young Keyblade master had a troubled look upon his face, having sent the Keyblade away, he sat a little ways away from them on the dais, staring down at the ground in front of him.

Neither of them quite knew what to say, what words could possibly make him feel better about Riku and Natsumi turning away from him time and time again. Riku's behavior in the secret room behind the chapel seemed to have sent him over the edge, unable to ignore the severity of the situation any longer. Even his companions found themselves replaying the events that had transpired since they landed over and over again, from the callous way the two teenagers had treated Beast, to the determined cruelty of Natsumi's parting words, to the ruthless pleasure Riku had seemed to get from stabbing Maleficent through the heart.

After another glance was exchanged over Sora's head, Goofy cleared his throat. Sora looked up at this, and Goofy gave him an encouraging smile.

"Gee Sora, we'd better get goin'. Kairi's waiting for you right?" He said, gently trying to remind Sora of the one friend not intent on siding with the darkness, the one friend who was actively depending on him. Sora nodded, summoning a strained grin in return, remembering Donald's order of, "No sad faces," back when his journey had just begun and he had unshakable faith that he would find his friends.

"Yeah, she is," he said, voice forcibly light. Kairi was waiting for him, needing his help. There was no time to dwell on things. He stood up, hands behind his head and walked out of the chapel, unhindered by the barrier that Natsumi had summoned earlier. The brunet didn't notice the troubled glance Donald cast at the doorway, wondering what could have caused the girl to dismiss the magic keeping them trapped. Had she succeeded with her plans to get rid of Kairi? The duck hurried after his friends, an uneasy feeling growing in his stomach.

They rushed through the castle, defeating Heartless and following its corridors until finally they came upon the grand hall. Donald and Goofy looked sideways at the sleeping princesses as they passed, but Sora continued forward with a single minded intensity to find Kairi. Two staircases were on either side of them, and the boy veered to the left, something instinctively pulling him toward the top of the stairs. He was rewarded when, upon reaching the top, he saw Kairi, lying there on the floor, looking for all the world like she was sleeping.

"Kairi!" He called out, bolting towards her, blind to Goofy being thrown back by a barrier summoned around the staircases, and ignorant of the threat that loomed above them until it was too late.

The Heartless came out of nowhere, flying towards the boy before he could see it and swiping out at him, forcing him away from Kairi. Sora fell backwards to the ground, staring up at this latest threat, this obstacle between himself and Kairi. His eyes narrowed in anger, and he jumped back up, immediately summoning the Keyblade.

"Get out of my way!" The boy shouted, falling into a fighting stance before, to his great surprise, the creature listened, its wings beating the air once before it retreated back into the shadows of the grand hall. He watched it go, mouth set in a troubled frown. But he didn't dwell on the creature's strange behavior long, instead letting the Keyblade dissolve and rushing to Kairi's side again. His arms looped around her, devoid of self consciousness as he gave her a gentle shake.

"Kairi! Open your eyes!" He pleaded. The girl lay there mutely, unmoving, the small spark of life she had shown back in Neverland gone. His heart felt heavy in his chest, desperation setting in. He couldn't lose Kairi too!

"It's no use." Sora's gaze jerked upwards in the direction of the voice. His body tensed when his eyes found Riku, sitting comfortably with a leg swinging above a giant heart shaped doorway, beyond which was a vortex swirling with color. The older teen was still dressed in the dark armor he had worn when battling Sora, and Sora's eyes hardened when he saw the dark Keyblade in his hand, the Heartless that had just attacked Sora at his side. "That girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up."

Sora gently lowered Kairi to the floor, standing up and turning to face his best friend. The apathetic way he spoke about Kairi set off warning bells in Sora's head.

"What? You..." He began hesitantly. "You're not Riku." The stranger ignored him, his next words spoken with relish.

"The Keyhole cannot be completed so long as the last princess of heart still sleeps." He pushed off of the platform he was sitting on, and instead of falling, floated down to the ground below with unnatural control. But Sora could only focus on the word 'princess'.

"The princess...?" He repeated slowly, before the words sank in and he turned to not-Riku in shock. "Kairi's a princess?"

"Yes, and without her power, the Keyhole will remain incomplete. It is time she awakened." The Heartless that had been standing guard over Kairi materialized next to not-Riku in a swirling portal of darkness. Its wings held it aloft, and it hovered there with quiet restraint, waiting for a command. The sight made Sora angry.

"Whoever you are, let Riku go! Give him back his heart!" He demanded, glaring at this stranger with all the force he could muster. The stranger only grinned wickedly from where he stood on a platform of shattered concrete slabs.

"But first, you must give the princess back her heart." He pointed the dark Keyblade at Sora, a manic look in his stolen sea-green eyes. Sora's eyes widened at the sudden stab in his chest, not quite painful, but it was a jolt that took his breath away as he reached his hand up to grab at his heart and fell to his knees.

"Sora!" Donald looked at his friend with concern, wracking his brain to try to come up with some way to help Sora.

"What's—" the boy started to say breathlessly, but was interrupted.

"Don't you see yet?" Not-Riku said fervently, his excitement mounting. He walked closer to Sora, down a set of steps that had escaped destruction. "The princess's heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!" His eyes never left Sora, watching as the boy remained on his knees.

"Kairi... Kairi's inside of me?" Sora asked, trying to wrap his mind around the concept. Strange memories that he'd discovered on his journey began to make sense, the specters of Kairi he had seen were her heart, resonating with his wherever he had been at that moment. A part of him couldn't help but deflate in relief, Kairi was _safe_, her heart would never come to any harm as long as it was with him. The feeling was brief, as the stranger started speaking again.

"And who better to retrieve the princess's heart that her own friend?" Sora looked up in confusion, his eyes drawn to the movements of the Heartless next to not-Riku.

"Her... own friend?" The creature's wings beat a little more forcefully, and the imposter was staring down at Sora expectantly. He looked between not-Riku and the Heartless, scanning it up and down for any familiar features. Its eyes were the same yellow as any other Heartless he had seen, the wings a flickering of green flames reminiscent of the ones Maleficent had breathed as a dragon. Its clawed feet hovered above the ground and its fingers were long and thin, tinged green and curled, ready to attack. The rest of it was disconcertingly humanoid, but there was nothing in it that reminded him of Natsumi. "No way... There's no way that's Natsumi!" His voice raised in defiance, glaring at the pretender, who was infuriatingly unaffected by his denial.

"No? Perhaps you should look again." He raised his hand to motion at the Heartless before reaching out and stroking the mop of dark green hair on the Heartless's head. Natsumi had always worn her hair in a ponytail because she couldn't stand it laying thickly against the back of her neck or getting tangled by the ocean breeze. She always complained about it, but she refused to cut it any shorter than it was. "I find her color particularly intriguing."

"You're lying!" Sora shouted, irritated by his riddles. What was so special about the green color of the Heartless in front of him? He didn't care about the stupid color, he wanted to know where his friends were! "What did you do to Natsumi?" He demanded. The stranger's face took on a mockingly wistful expression.

"Poor girl... Friend to the princess with two white knights, forced to watch while they fought over the princess." He grinned at Sora with a sadistic pleasure that made the boy feel nauseous to see on his best friend's features. "Nobody to notice as she slipped into darkness." Something flicked behind the Heartless, and Sora noticed now the green tail, swishing behind the creature in agitation. He looked up and into the Heartless's eyes, yellow and expressionless, pleading that this Heartless was not his friend.

"It can't be... I won't believe it!" He cried defiantly from his position on the ground.

"Sora..." Donald said gently, having finally put two and two together to deduce what had caused the dark barrier keeping them in the castle chapel to disappear. Sora turned to him, a look of utter devastation on his face. The duck mage had taught him a lot in the time they had been together, including the timing and stipulations around summoning a barrier. Theoretically, as long as a person had the energy, a barrier could hold indefinitely. Sora's resolve began to crumble. "Her barrier dropped..." The duck continued unnecessarily. They were both realizing that this person was not lying.

"How... how did this happen?" Sora's eyes turned to the Heartless, once more taking in its appearance.

"I know all there is to know," the Riku imposter spoke again.

"Tell me. Who are you?"

The man seemed all too happy to finally reveal his identity to them. "It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness."

Ansem began to walk towards Sora, still on his knees on the ground. Donald's expression had gone from sympathy to anger, and he charged at the man that was causing his friend so much pain. With no effort, Ansem knocked Donald away, sending the duck flying through the barrier to join Goofy trapped on the other side.

"Now," Ansem began, the Heartless behind him watching him with hungry eyes, waiting for its cue, "it is time the princess's heart was retrieved." At these words the Heartless lunged for Sora, claws outstretched to pluck out Kairi's heart.

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy cried out in unison, hands and faces pressed against the barrier in an attempt to get to Sora. At their voices he looked up and in a flash of light the Keyblade was in his hand and deflecting the attack. As the Heartless reeled back and prepared for another attack, Sora hesitated. He'd defeated Heartless before, sent their captive hearts towards the heavens, but he had never before thought about the people they had been, or whether they could still be reached. But this was _Natsumi_ and there was no way he could simply destroy her without trying to reach some part of her that may still exist.

"Natsumi!" He shouted, between defensive maneuvers. The Heartless pushed him back, and back again, each time its fingers getting closer to his chest. It didn't respond to its name in any way. Sora slowly began to come to another realization. Natsumi was gone, and the shell that was her lingering will was trying to destroy Kairi. He had to protect Kairi's heart.

With great difficulty his moves shifted from defensive to offensive, parrying the Heartless blow for blow. The first time one of his attacks connected and the Heartless let of a screech of pain Sora's heart stopped. He hesitated, and only the fact that it was still reeling in pain saved him from being attacked during his lapse. Steeling himself, Sora ran towards the Heartless again, Keyblade swinging in a graceful arc.

Ansem watched the fight from the sidelines with glee and the young Keyblade master did his best to ignore the man wearing his friend's face. The Heartless flew up and out of range of his attack, whirling in midair and firing a barrage of green fireballs at him. Reflexively, he summoned a barrier and the fireballs bounced off without harming him. They flew back towards the thing that had cast them and the Heartless dodged them deftly, throwing itself against Sora's barrier with such force that it pushed him back a few inches. The Heartless clawed at the barrier, shrieking in a primal rage. Sora's muscles trembled as he tried to keep it up, realizing his protection wouldn't last much longer.

He jumped back suddenly, allowing the barrier to drop and his enemy to stumble forward with the force of its attacks. Before it could regain its bearings, Sora was upon it, slashing and landing his blows with all the strength he could muster. He ignored the trembling of his limbs and the few blows the creature managed to land on him, its nails raking across his skin with razor sharpness. Each of its attacks fell wide of the mark, missing his chest and the precious cargo within.

With a final blow, the Heartless fell back, body hitting the ground hard. The image of Natsumi flying through the air and landing on top of Riku as a result of his attack flashed through his mind. The Heartless lay there unmoving as dark tendrils began to waft up from its body and into the air. Ansem had Riku's face twisted into a thoughtful frown, watching the scene unfold before him. The girl had proved worthless after all.

Sora ran forward, falling to his knees next to the Heartless. It didn't seem to notice him there as his hands hovered desperately over its body, trying in vain to keep it from disappearing as he had seen so many Heartless do in the past. His breath caught in his throat and his heart stopped as Natsumi's heart was released from the dark creature he had just fought. The bright pink heart floated upwards too quickly for him to do anything but stare in horror—

And then she was gone, the heart whisked away and the body vanished completely. Sora clenched his fists tightly, blinking away the furious tears that entered his eyes.

"Natsumi... Wherever you are, I'll find you." His eyes lifted to the spot in the air where her heart had disappeared, the blue of them steely with determination. "I promise!"

* * *

**A/N:** And this, my friends, is where Natsumi's story ends. For now. But! I did promise you two more chapters, so there will be an epilogue after this chapter. After that I'll be starting work on the sequel, _Way to Dawn_. I pretty much have the bare bones of the plot worked out, but I'm going to be doing a more detailed chapter outline this time, instead of just winging it. So, I can't say for sure when the first chapter of _Way to Dawn_ will make an appearance, but hopefully it will be before the end of the month!


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

As the heavy door began to close between them, Riku could feel the oppressive weight of hundreds of Heartless at his back. There were so many things he wanted to say to Sora, but the only thing that came to his lips was a redundant request.

"Take care of her."

His friend nodded in determination and Riku felt his heart clench in guilt. The words were meaningless, they both already knew that it went without saying that Sora would protect her. No, what he had wanted to say instead was that he would search too. That if there was any chance of finding Natsumi on this side of the door he would find it. For the first time in a long time he felt as though he was thinking clearly. The darkness was still there, but he felt as if now there was at least a possibility he could fight it off. The feeling of Ansem using his body was still fresh in his mind, the image of the dark Keyblade piercing through Natsumi seared onto his eyelids.

"Sora!" His voice forced its way out of his throat and the brunet looked back up at him from where he was trying to force the door shut. "I'll look too. If she's here..." He trailed off, but he could tell from the look on Sora's face that his friend understood, and then the door was shut, the last vestiges of light from the other side vanishing, leaving Riku and the King in total darkness.

* * *

The girl wakes with a start, jolting up into a sitting position. Her green eyes are wide and her hand flies up to rest on her chest. Sensations flash over her, but muted, disoriented in a way that leaves her unable to decipher them. Her blonde hair is pulled up in a loose ponytail, strands wisping around a face devoid of sweat. She pushes the loose strands away from her face and quietly observes the space around her.

She is sitting on the ground, one arm propping herself up against the white tiles. The room is deafeningly silent, the walls and ceiling just as white as the floor. Standing up, she turns in a slow circle, taking in the rest of the room. There are no doors and no windows, as far as she can tell, there is no way out. Something nudges at her mind, a quiet suggestion that she should be more alarmed than she is. The girl frowns at the notion, looking down at herself. She tugs on the ends of the shorts she's wearing and then crosses her arms. Suddenly a voice floods her mind, feminine and reassuring.

_"You know that we would never judge you." Wide blue eyes framed by red bangs stare at her earnestly._

_"I know, I know..." Another girl answers uncertainly, fingers playing with the too short school skirt she is wearing. She opens her mouth to say more—_

As quick as it comes, the memory shatters and she is once again standing alone in a desolate hallway. But now there is a door in front of her. White, just as everything else in the hallway is, but it's something new, and she walks through it without hesitation.

When the door closes behind her, she takes a few moments to blink. The question of where exactly she is begins to loom heavier in her mind. In front of her the corridor is an exact replica of the one she just left. She crosses her arms, wondering if this is how it will be, if she will just wonder and wait for a door to appear and go through them, one after the other. Staring down the hallway she waits expectantly. After a moment, her patience is rewarded.

One minute, the hallway is empty and silent and in the next, a swirling portal of darkness is opening in front of her. From within the portal a figure emerges, clad in a black cloak, face shrouded in darkness. As soon as the person steps through, the portal disappears again. The silence stretches between them, until finally the girl breaks it.

"Who are you?" She asks, undaunted by this strange figure. The figure doesn't respond by speaking, at least not right away. Instead they reach up and push their hood back, revealing a shocking amount of pale pink hair. The man's blue eyes scan her up and down and she stares unflinchingly back. Met with her unwavering stare, his lips pull up in a smirk, and then those lips part to finally answer her, but not with his name.

"Welcome to Castle Oblivion."

* * *

**A/N:** And here is where I include my thank yous. Thank you to those who have been with me from the very beginning (or almost beginning) and thank you to those who only found this story recently. Thank you for sticking with me through all the writers blocks and through all the dark times of the story. Thank you for your reviews, favorites, and alerts, you have no idea how happy they make me. I break into a smile every time I have a new email in my inbox! And, the first time I posted this, I forgot a special shout out, to gerson, for inspiring me to include the small bonus moment with Riku.

I hope you enjoyed, and please look for _Way to Dawn_!


	16. Alternate Ending

**A/N:** So a few people have suggested to me that I write an alternate ending for this fanfiction, so I did! Although the manner of alternate ending may not be quite what you planned (I have a feeling you're hoping for something significantly happier than what the true ending is) my friend and beta reader assured me that she loved it, and I had a great time writing it. So here's my little "what if" scenario!

* * *

Alternate Ending

Inside his own heart, Riku raged. The man, Ansem he knew now, had appeared to him, promising strength. But he had been tricked. Instead of feeling stronger Riku felt himself being taken over. With every movement his body made, with every word that came, several octaves too deep, out of his mouth, he felt a little bit more of himself dangling off that precipice to darkness. He found himself reflecting on the journey that had brought him here, realizing just how long ago he had opened up his heart to darkness. A door in a secret place tempting him every time he saw it until it burst open and the Heartless were upon them.

His body stood next to Maleficent, speaking to her of doors and princesses and power and it made him feel just a little bit better to know that the witch was being duped too, that Ansem was using her as a means to an end.

_Hey! Ansem!_ He shouted, trying to gain the man's attention. Ansem ignored him steadfastly and his body continued to move, ignorant of its owner's will. He clenched his fists and a low growl of frustration escaped his mouth._ Ansem! Give me my body back!_ The man continued his conversation with Maleficent, a conversation that Riku hadn't paid attention to in his efforts but which seemed to be over, as the witch disappeared into a dark corridor.

_It is useless to struggle,_ Ansem finally acknowledged him. _It is only a matter of time now._ Before Riku could ask what was only a matter of time, though he had a sneaking suspicion he knew, a voice came from behind them.

"Riku?"

_Natsumi!_ The name never left his lips as Ansem turned his body to look at the girl. Sudden fear filled him as he took in her confused eyes and disheveled hair. He didn't want to find out what would happen to her if he couldn't regain control from Ansem.

_Ah, yes._ Ansem's voice filled his mind. _The girl tempted by darkness._ The tone of Ansem's voice made his blood run cold. He redoubled his efforts, pressing against the dark will that held him down.

"So, what, you trust Maleficent now?" She crossed her arms and glanced sideways at him. The hurt in her tone caused his heart to clench in guilt, but he felt his lips raise in a contradictory smirk.

"Not as much as you might think," he heard himself answer. Inwardly, he pleaded for Natsumi to realize this wasn't him, to notice that something wasn't right and to leave there as fast as she could. They had been friends their whole lives, surely she'd be able to tell that he wasn't in control. _But then again, you haven't really been acting like yourself, have you?_ Ansem sneered at him. Riku faltered. Had he really changed that much? Taking advantage of that moment of doubt, Ansem imposed his will with more force, and Riku felt himself slip further down that precipice.

_No!_ Focusing hard on gaining back the footing he had lost, he didn't hear the next few moments of the conversation. When he regained awareness of his surroundings, it was to hear Ansem speaking again.

"Just accept the darkness, like I did." Ansem said. Riku clenched his fists at the words. Every step of the way she had been with him, he had watched the way she had looked to him questioningly, nodding in understanding as he accepted Maleficent's gifts. Her eyes looked confused and wistful at the same time and he wondered what Ansem had said to make her look like that. She didn't seem to notice as she stepped minutely closer to him and Ansem moved closer to her in response. His gut twisted in anticipation, aware now that the longing in her eyes was for _him_, unknowing that the person speaking to her was somebody else. Would she listen to Ansem? "We don't need anybody else."

"What about Kairi?" Natsumi asked. He was taken aback by the bitterness in her voice and suddenly remembered finding her on Hook's ship, staring at Kairi with coldly contemplative eyes, a dark portal swirling hungrily behind her. His heart had stopped at that moment, wondering what she was planning. Then his gaze was moving and Kairi came into his line of sight. He felt his shoulders lift up in a nonchalant shrug, not entirely unlike one he actually would have given. Natsumi's face came back into view and his lips were moving again.

"What about her? She's just a distraction now." Was this what Ansem thought Natsumi wanted to hear, he wondered with doubt. _You've no idea how she truly feels, do you?_ Riku stiffened at the reminder that Ansem was privy to all the thoughts in his head, all the memories and feelings.

And then, finally, his silent prayers were answered.

"Who are you?" The girl asked lowly, and Riku almost felt like jumping for joy. Of course she would realize it wasn't him! Ansem's brief moment of surprise made him smirk in triumph and push once again at the man's control. But it wasn't enough. Fighting against Ansem felt like trying to move a brick wall and the man just continued on.

"What?" There was too much surprise in his voice. Riku scoffed at this portrayal of himself, still incredibly proud of Natsumi. _She knows you're not me._

As if to reinforce his statement Natsumi said, "You're not Riku. He would never say that about Kairi."

_But I don't have to be you._

Riku felt his lips widen in a grin that was wholly not his own as Ansem gave up any pretense of being the silver haired teen.

_What are you planning?_

"Well done, Natsumi." His mannerisms changed completely, the dual tone to his voice becoming more pronounced. Riku watched, confused, as his arm reached out, his fingers brushing oh so gently across her cheek. Her response was immediate, her cheeks flushing as she seemed to wilt under the touch. The weight of her reaction was infinitely more than the increased weight of her leaning against his hand.

_She desires you_, Ansem told him, even as they both watched her pull away from the touch.

"I must confess, I hadn't expected you to notice. Your heart is full of doubts and jealousy. The darkness is a suitable companion for one such as you." Though he said the words to Natsumi, Riku couldn't help but feel as if they were meant for him as well. It had been his doubt of his own strength, his jealousy of Sora that opened him up to the darkness. Was it possible that Natsumi felt the same?

"What did you do to Riku?" Her question came out as a whisper, and he felt the sudden urge to wipe away the tears that appeared in her eyes. Riku fell silent in the face of her emotion. _"I'll always choose you,"_ she had said and something within him had made him throw the confession back in her face. He couldn't remember for the life of him what he had been thinking when he basically rejected her. Something prickled in the back of his mind, a rush of butterflies filled his stomach.

"He's still here. He can see all of this." Natsumi's eyes widened, boring into his. His breath caught in his throat. Could she tell he was there? _Natsumi!_ He tried to scream, but his voice only echoed around the insides of his heart, unheard. The girl leaned in deeper to his touch, not his, Ansem's, how could she have forgotten that?! _Natsumi!_ Both Natsumi and Ansem ignored him. "I made him stronger. I could do the same for you."

The blonde reached up and wrapped her fingers around the gloved hand resting on her cheek.

"Maleficent said the same thing," she said. Her eyes were open and curious, actually listening to what this man who had stolen his body had to say, and in her tone was a challenge. _What the hell are you doing?_ Riku didn't know who he was directing the question at, if it was at Ansem, or if it was at Natsumi, suddenly uncharacteristically bold. But then, that wasn't exactly true now, was it, with the way she had challenged him, and Sora, and Maleficent. This journey had changed her too. He could sense it when Ansem's interest was piqued.

_A surprising child._ His voice was almost mirthful before he went back to ignoring Riku.

_Ansem, let her go!_ He didn't want to watch this. A sick feeling began in his gut as he was forced to stand by while Ansem tempted his friend to darkness.

"Maleficent herself is weak, a puppet to the darkness," he sneered in contempt. Natsumi's green eyes widened minutely. His hand tensed against her skin. "I could make you stronger than her." He promised. Riku would have given anything at that moment to be able to read her mind, to know what she was thinking as she stood there in silence. Ansem waited with a patience as careful as when he had been manipulating Riku, and Maleficent before him. Riku raged against them all.

_Leave her alone! Natsumi, don't listen to him!_

"Who are you?" The tension in the air was palpable as Ansem answered her.

"Ansem."

Enraged, Riku wanted to tear his hand off of her face, if only to keep Ansem from touching her any longer. He was half convinced that if he could only accomplish this small task, Natsumi would be safe. He threw all his energy into the attempt, focusing as hard as he could on it.

"Ansem," Natsumi repeated, testing the name out. Her face wore an expression of satisfaction, as if this was an explanation instead of just a name. "How do I know Riku's still in there?" She asked. For a brief moment, Riku perked up. Would Ansem relinquish control to him to prove to Natsumi that he was still there after all? Her eyes were once more searching his and he waited with bated breath for Ansem's response. Then suddenly he was back in control, he felt it, almost like a rubber band snapping. He gasped and his eyes widened and he opened his mouth to warn her, to tell her to run as fast and as far as she could. But those weren't the words that came out of his mouth.

"Everything's going to be okay, Natsu." The old nickname fell from his lips easily, even as he tried to call it back. Desperately, Riku clutched at her hands, struggling to say what he really meant. How could he be in control of everything but his mouth? "We can trust Ansem."

_Stop using me! You dirty cheat!_

He felt Ansem's triumph as Natsumi smiled in relief, and Riku felt a pain in his chest that had nothing to do with his defeat. It was the first time he had seen her really smile in months. It shouldn't have been startling how much she trusted him, but for some reason it was. Her unwavering belief filled him with shame.

"Okay," she said breathlessly. "Okay." Ansem was in control again, having shown Natsumi just enough of Riku to get her to lower her guard completely. "What happens now?" She asked, giving his hands a squeeze. Riku cringed at her question. He was wondering the same thing, although with a much different feeling than Natsumi. His body was once more out of his control, as he felt the darkness creep in ever closer.

"You simply have to allow the darkness into your heart." He wondered if Natsumi had noticed the shift in control, or if she still thought it was him. Riku watched in confusion as Natsumi's gaze moved to Kairi, her eyes hardening. He couldn't wrap his mind around the resentment in her eyes. Natsumi and Kairi were supposed to be best friends, sharing conspiratorial glances, whispered secrets, and un-interpretable giggles. But if he had been an ignorant third party, he would have thought they were bitter rivals. Her eyes returned to his and she took a deep breath.

"I have one condition." Ansem raised an eyebrow in amusement, but said nothing. "We have to get rid of Kairi." Riku's shock froze him in place, unable to say anything or fight against Ansem's control. _An interesting development._ The grip of darkness was suffocating him. His lips turned upwards in a smile and one of his hands released hers to reach up and grasp her chin tenderly in his fingers. _Sora, Sora will stop this, where is Sora?!_

"Natsumi," the man using his body said, looking deeply into her eyes. "Once the princess has fulfilled her purpose, you can do whatever you want with her." _No! Natsumi you don't want that!_ The girl's eyes were fluttering shut though, as if she were already imagining a future where Kairi didn't exist.

_She does want it._

_I won't let this happen! Kairi's her friend! Let me talk to her!_

_Foolish boy, why would I allow that?_

"Alright." Natsumi's voice cut clear through their argument, her eyes open again. "I accept it. The darkness. Make me stronger." Her eyes were hard and determined, but she didn't understand the gravity of what she was asking. She thought Riku was working with Ansem, she had no idea that he was a prisoner in his own body and everything she had heard was a carefully crafted façade.

_Natsumi, don't!_ The wicked smile on his face was bigger than ever, his grip moving from her chin to wrap around the back of her neck, pulling her ever closer. Riku could feel her breath on his face, halting and warm. _Don't touch her!_ Riku roared, gathering his will tightly to him, hoping against hope that he could take his body back. His blood went cold as a dark aura began to gather around her. Natsumi closed her eyes as the aura grew, enveloping her, with its pinnacle resting right over her heart. _Stop!_ He threw his will against Ansem's control and gasped in surprise. He felt it give, just the slightest bit, but that was all the encouragement he needed to try again.

The darkness around Natsumi was increasing, growing darker and darker. Her lips parted just the smallest bit, her expression almost blissful. Despite his best efforts, despite the slight give of Ansem's will, the darkness did not relent.

_A pointless struggle._

And then as soon as it had started the aura was gone, like it had never been, and Riku had made no headway in taking his body back. He hadn't made a difference at all. Natsumi's eyes opened again, and he could have sworn he saw them flash yellow before they were once more deeply green.

_It's done._ He didn't know if the thought was his own or Ansem's. Despondent with his most recent failure, Riku retreated back into his own heart, quietly watching as Ansem gave Natsumi the bare minimum of information that was relevant to her.

Was it an eternity later or moments later when Sora finally entered the grand hall, Donald and Goofy in tow? Riku looked up briefly at this. Sora was his only hope, Sora would set things to rights. Vaguely, he realized his body was moving, and started to pay attention again. Was that Natsumi's hand in his? But as soon as he questioned it, the feeling was gone. His mouth was moving again, that dual toned voice coming out. Words came to him, muffled with distance.

"Give Riku his heart back!"

"Kairi's heart rests within you!"

"Tell me. Who are you?"

_Ansem._

"The princess's power will complete the keyhole. Natsumi." The girl came into his field of vision, standing next to him, colors swirling in a powerful vortex behind her. "Will you do the honors?" Natsumi's answering grin bared her teeth savagely. He'd never seen her more fearsome or more terrifying. His attention raised slightly at this avenging angel, her words piercing through the fog.

"With pleasure." Her voice came to his ears maliciously, and then she was running forward, staff swinging and dark thundaga raining down from the ceiling. She fought Sora viciously, all of the resentment coming clear in each blow she landed. Riku didn't notice at first when his body began moving. It came to him all at once, the dark Keyblade in his hand, his legs moving briskly underneath him, the view of Sora's back coming closer and closer, his Keyblade and Natsumi's staff locked against each other.

"SORA!" Donald and Goofy, yelling his friend's name, the boy turned his head and his eyes widened as he saw his friend bearing down on him. Ansem's eyes found Natsumi's and at his silent cue, she retreated, leaving Sora to him. Confused, Sora turned away from the girl's sudden retreat to face Ansem—

_SORA!_

But it was too late.

The Keyblade of People's Hearts jutted out from his friend's chest, his face frozen in shock.

"SORA!"

"Yes, release the princess's heart, complete the keyhole!"

He felt his lips twisted in a manically triumphant grin, Ansem's excitement tearing through his heart until he almost couldn't tell it wasn't him who was excited. An orb of light came out of Sora's chest and up the Keyblade, swathing the whole thing in golden light. Slowly, it faded, absorbed into the Keyblade, and as soon as the light was completely gone, Sora's body dissolved, bursting into tiny motes of light that drifted upwards like so many lightning bugs.

"_SORA!_" Three voices cried out in unison, though one of them was still silent. A flicker of annoyance flashed through Ansem's excitement, feeling Riku picking at the corners of the heart they now shared.

"Natsumi, take care of them."

Almost before he had finished speaking, the girl was moving, stalking towards them with threatening slowness. The barrier that had locked them out shimmered and disappeared. In response, the two charged forward, weapons bared, faces wearing mirrored expressions of raw pain and fury. Natsumi swung her staff, a trail of darkness falling off of it. The trail of darkness followed her staff as she raised it above her head and gave it a sharp snap. With that snap the darkness fell off of her weapon and coalesced in front of Donald and Goofy, halting them in their tracks. They stared up at the giant Heartless in front of them, Natsumi standing behind it and looking up at it with pride. The Heartless stepped forward, the ground shuddering beneath its weight.

"Natsumi," Ansem called again. "Let's go." He had Kairi in his arms, the dark Keyblade dismissed. Her expression twisted like she'd tasted something sour, and the Heartless she had summoned lurched towards Donald and Goofy, outstretching its hand and throwing the two into a wall. Ansem twisted Riku's lips into a smirk. "Don't worry," he told her. "I haven't forgotten our deal." She huffed in exasperation, but followed him through the heart shaped portal he had finally created. They walked together through what looked like battle torn caverns, islands floating in nothingness, and finally, down a twisting sandy path that ended in a large door.

"Ansem." Natsumi said, crossing her arms when they reached the door. "I want to do it now." At the words, Riku stirred. Sora was gone, and Natsumi had given into the darkness. He was Kairi's only hope. He _had_ to break through Ansem's control.

"Very well." Ansem turned to her, the girl still in his arms. Her eyes lit up, and Riku felt sick as Ansem handed over Kairi to Natsumi. This wasn't how things were supposed to be! He focused on the way his gut twisted, the memory of Sora disappearing in front of his eyes, the knowledge that Kairi was completely defenseless. He railed against Ansem's hold, but his body held unnaturally still. Natsumi walked closer to the edge, her back to him, before stopping with her toes just brushing the edge of the pathway.

And just when he finally regained enough control to force his body one footstep closer, Natsumi dropped her arms. Kairi's body seemed to fall in slow motion as his body snapped back into his control. He ran forward, eyes peering over the edge of the pathway, he would have thrown his body over the edge to get her, but Ansem stopped him.

_That's how easy it is to keep you under control, Riku._

His body turned to Natsumi, the girl was staring down into the vast blackness with the satisfied look of a cat having finally eaten the mouse. Ansem reached out and grabbed her hand. Her gaze jerked up to him at the contact.

"Riku?" She asked, and her voice sounded weak and uncertain.

"Natsumi?" Ansem squeezed her hand, echoing a day long ago in a place the complete opposite of where they stood now.

"You're in control right now?"

"Yeah," Ansem lied. _No, Natsumi, it's not me._ But his protests were weaker. In a matter of hours Ansem had destroyed everybody he cared about. What was there left to fight for? Did he have any chance of bringing Natsumi back from the darkness she had embraced?

"And this..." She glanced quickly down into the abyss and then back up at him. "You're okay with this?' His arms drew her closer, wrapping around her smaller form.

"It's just you and me now," he heard himself whisper into her ear. When she shuddered at his words, he felt himself shudder too, within his heart. He was surprised by how much he wanted those words to be true, how much it pained him that they weren't.

"That's all I ever wanted," she murmured into his chest. Suddenly she was leaning even closer, tilting her head backwards, her eyes shut. Ansem let her close the distance between them, their lips meeting. Riku's stomach rolled in disgust, how could he let Ansem touch Natsumi like this? But somewhere in the back of his mind, he stopped to let the sensation sink in. His hand reached up to cup her cheek, who was controlling it? Her body pressed against his, demanding more from him, and it was given. His other hand found the small of her back and held her tightly. This was Natsumi, his childhood friend, and there was something natural about the feel of her lips against his.

"That's all I ever wanted," she said again after pulling away to rest her head against his chest.

And that was when he realized that he couldn't stop fighting. No matter what, he would take his body back and he would bring Natsumi back from darkness. He would defeat Ansem, or he would die trying.


	17. Author's Note

Hey guys! I told you that hopefully I'd have a first chapter for _Way to Dawn_ by the beginning of September, but I realize now that that was too optimistic. When I sat down and started working on the chapter outline, I realized that I would have to work around the timeline for 358/2 Days as well. It's been almost two days of nonstop timeline and character research. So please hold on for a little bit longer guys, thanks!


	18. Story Update

Update 9-4-2016: _Way to Dawn _has been renamed to _Total Eclipse_ and the first chapter is now posted!


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